For a Piece of Your Time
by Silver Akuma Kitsune
Summary: Love? He had a feeling before. No, he knew, but it had never been confirmed - never heard those words from her lips. "Anna, I-" She placed a pale finger on his lips. "Shh... I know. It is alright, Doctor. I had to say it before my heart bursts. Just staying with you here, is making me more than happy." Doctor/OC (First of the Seraphixia series.)
1. The Caged Angel

**CHAPTER ONE: The Caged Angel**

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" The man screamed and struggled against two robed men. "I've done nothing wrong! Let me go!" He was pushed down to kneel before a figure.

"My lady." The two men bowed and retreated out of the dark room.

"No, please…" The man tried to run away, but the door was locked. He banged on the wood and cried for help. "I have children! My family is waiting for me to come home." It was futile. "Let me go! Let me go!"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

The Doctor and Rose had just seen the last glimpse of Pete Tyler and retreated back into the TARDIS to go on their next adventure. Rose was sitting in the jump seat while the Doctor was using his mallet on the console.

"You know, you really need to start learning how to fly the TARDIS properly," Rose said, laughing away at the foolish man.

The Doctor quickly dismissed her, still hammering away. The TARDIS continued to shake as it flew through the time vortex until finally, it came to an abrupt stop, sending them both on to the floor. "There we go! Didn't I tell you, I know exactly how to drive her."

"Right, Doctor."

"Of course." He grinned.

"So where are we this time?"

"Paris, France – seventeen ninety. Just the beginning of the French Revolution." He opened the door and saw a small garden leading to a quaint house. "Oooh... Back into the TARDIS."

Rose gave him an odd look. "What? Why?"

"Wrong time. Off by two hundred years," he explained. "It's the twenty-first century."

Rose smiled widely at him. "Well, that's alright. It's Paris! Who cares what time it is? I'd much rather go shopping here than seeing mobs of people roam the streets in old, dirty clothes any day!"

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before shrugging. They skipped off towards a random direction.

Rose slipped in and out of shops and by the end of the day no stores were safe from her. As they made their way back to the TARDIS, a loud scream rang through the night air. They looked at each other and charged towards the source.

A crowd of teenagers were gathered in front of the entrance of an alley.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Rose asked around.

They looked at her and pointed at the motionless body. The Doctor rushed over, took his sonic screwdriver, and checked over the corpse. "No signs of how he died. Did you see what killed him?"

"When we arrived, he was already... dead," one said.

"But there are many stories," another added. "That there is a reaper among us. Killing people who are meant to die."

A dark look crossed the Doctor's face. "And who gives them the right to play God - to judge who deserves to live and who doesn't?"

The teenagers took a step back, not quite sure how to react to the sudden change.

"Come on, Rose. We're going to do some investigating and find this... _reaper_."

Despite the situation, the blonde was unable to resist the grin that was tugging at her lips. _Never a dull moment with the Doctor!_

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Not a day later, another victim was found in the Jardin du Luxembourg - one of Paris' most popular parks. The woman was in her mid-twenties with long brown hair that was scattered around her in waves. Her face was gaunt with hollow cheeks and dark bags sagged under her unblinking eyes. A shocked look was plastered on her face.

The paramedics were perplexed. There was no cause of death.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

The Doctor rang the doorbell. A man of forty opened the door. He was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt with a cigarette between his lips. He grunted, "What do you want?"

"Hello, Rob Leroy. John Smith. I'm investigating the death of your late wife, Felix Leroy. " The Doctor flashed his psychic paper at the man who grunted again and gestured him in.

"And her?"

"My partner, Rose Tyler."

"What do you want to talk about? I already told the police that I know nothing."

"How long has it been since people started dropping dead without a reason?" the Doctor inquired.

Rob sighed. "Years and years. Decades. Centuries. The police has always been trying to cover it up - keep the civilians out of control, but we have gotten smart, you know? Not like those idiots back in the days who are willing to accept anything the media throws at them. Something has been killing those people and their bloodlust is unquenchable."

"Their? So you think this is a group?" The Doctor leaned forward.

"How else would they have lasted for so long? No one lives forever and the murders have been dated back to the late eighteenth century."

"So the French Revolution?"

"Somewhere there." Rob shrugged. "It's nothing definite."

"And no one has found this person, even though it has been two hundred years?" Rose found it very hard to believe.

Rob shook his head. "Nothing, but there have been sightings of a black cloak and scythe."

"All these deaths..." the Doctor muttered. "Why hasn't it been popularized? Novels! Movies! There had to have been hundreds for Jack the Ripper. Why not this? But of course, someone who looks like a reaper, probably dismissed as such – just another myth."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know any more."

The Doctor gave the slanted coffee table in front of him one last stare before standing up. "Well, it has been great talking with you. My partner and I will be leaving, now."

"Do you have a card? I'll call you if I find out anything else," Rob offered. "She is – was – my wife and... we have been through much together. I thought we could finally have a happy ending, you know? She just got out of rehab and everything was great again, and now..."

"Rehab?" A spark appeared in the Doctor's grey eyes. "A history of drugs?"

Rob looked down at his holey socks, rubbing his feet against each other. "Yeah, but she had been clean for two years, now. The coroner said that there were no drugs in her system at the time."

The Doctor and Rose shared a look before they said their farewells to Rob Leroy and left the man to his grieving.

"So we can rule out drugs," Rose said.

"_Human_ drugs," the Doctor corrected. "Twenty-first century technology isn't as advanced as you think. Felix Leroy may have tried alien drugs without knowing that it is alien."

"May? So you're not sure?"

"Nope!" He grinned at her.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

After a good night's rest in the TARDIS, followed by another day of investigating, they finally had a lead. There had been unusual reports regarding an old mansion at the edge of the city, but when they arrived. The mansion didn't look old at all. It stood proud and strong in the middle of a large garden. Tall, black iron fenced away intruders, but nothing could outsmart the Doctor. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the gate. The two slipped in as it creaked open.

The Doctor rapped on the silver cross-shaped knocker. Moments later, one side of the grand door swung open. A tall man with a pale complexion and dark hair stood in front of them. His light grey eyes silently observed the two visitors. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, yes. May we come in? I'm John Smith, investigator for the murder of Felix Leroy. This is my partner, Rose Tyler, also an investigator." He gave the man a smile.

In return, they were granted access into the mansion. The man led them into a sitting room with a white velvet Victorian-styled sofa set. The white marble fireplace, adorned with figurines, was unlit. Plush red carpet laid under their feet, soft and warm.

"What is it that you wish to know?" the man inquired.

"Well, firstly, I would like to know how to address you," the Doctor started.

"You may call me William," he answered.

"Alright, William. I have heard some interesting rumours regarding this house - well, not a house really, this mansion. How long has it been around?"

"How is that important?" William said.

"Let's just say I like to have a little background information," was the reply.

William stared at the strange man for a minute, wondering what he was trying to find out with that insignificant piece of knowledge. "This manor has been here for the greater part of the nineteenth century."

Nearly two hundred years - not bad. "Have you seen any strange... occurrences?"

"Depends what is classified as strange, Investigator Smith."

"How about people clad in black cloaks, armed with a scythe?"

The Doctor watched as William's eyes darkened. _Gotcha!_ "I do not believe it is I that you need to speak to."

"Then who?"

"Stay here and I will come fetch you if permitted," with that said, he disappeared out the door.

They could hear his footsteps ascending up a set of stairs.

"Do you think we've finally found the murderers?" Rose asked.

"Oh, I do hope so." The excited gleam in the Doctor's eyes returned. "If not, they will have knowledge about these _reapers_."

For several minutes, the Doctor bounced restlessly on the sofa before William reentered the sitting room. "Follow me."

They followed the man up the stairs and through the corridors, wondering who they were going to meet. When they reached a dead end, William pulled a cord, revealing a set of stairs that continued to lead upward.

The Doctor and Rose were met with darkness. They saw tall dark shadows everywhere around them.

"My Lady, John Smith and Rose Tyler have arrived," William announced to an unknown character. He was on his knees with a hand over his heart and his head bowed down.

Bright light filled the room, illuminating every crevice. Everything was made of white marble. Pillars lined a long red carpet that led to the a woman sitting on a silver throne, cushioned with red velvet. Platinum blonde hair with loose curls framed her face, which was as pale as William's. Her eyes were like grey that shone almost white from the surroundings. "You wish to speak with me?" Her voice was monotone - robotic.

"Yes, well. I really don't want to be rude, but have you been killing the civilians?"

"No." It was a simple answer, but one that the Doctor and Rose had expected. Who would blatantly admit to killing people?

"Then do you know who did it?" The Doctor tilted his head back and looked at her accusingly.

She shook her head, but said no more.

"Come on! Give me something!" He was sure that she knew something about it. He was sure!

"My Lady, would you like for me to escort them out?" William intervened.

"No!" the Doctor protested. "I'm not done, yet!"

"Investigator John Smith and Rose Tyler, this way."

"I still have-"

"_This way._" There was a small tremor that shook the manor.

The Doctor, realizing that he would get nothing more for the time being, followed the man. He saw the light fade back into darkness as the stairs disappeared back into the ceiling, perfectly concealed amongst the intricate designs.

They reached the entrance before William spoke, again. "You must help her, Doctor."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "How did you- ?"

"I have heard about you. Many stories and you are the only one who can help her," he said.

"I don't understand. Why does she need helping?"

"She has been cursed with the sight of death by him. For two centuries, she has been given the responsibility of giving them peace, but even with my help, there have been many who were left behind. Some fade away into the abyss, while others are captured by lesser beings." William closed his eyes. "It is not a responsibility that she desires. She can't express it, but it kills her inside, Doctor.

"The first few years were too much for her to handle. She summoned a demon to take the pain away, but... everyone knows that it is unwise to make a deal with the devil. The plan backfired and it took everything away from her - all her emotions. All her happiness and her love. It was all gone and it wouldn't give them back." A single tear slid down his cheek. "I could not help her, then. All I could do now, is to stand beside her and assist her with her duty."

"You love her," the Doctor whispered.

"But someone such as her will never love someone like me. I am merely a servant and nothing more." William took a deep breath. "Help her, Doctor. Help her..."

The Time Lord, not one to leave someone asking for aid, agreed. They were as much victims as the murdered, but how? How can he help when he has no clue what to do?

"There is a church north from here," William started, once more. "I suspect that there will be answers there, but I have not been able to go in. Something prevents me from entering its doors."

"Alright, church. North. Got it!" The Doctor was renewed with energy. "Come on, Rose!"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

The church didn't look ominous. It didn't have evil-looking gargoyles. It didn't have guards surrounding it. All that's unusual was the word 'Bad Wolf' graffiti on it, but kids these days would vandalize anything.

"I guess we'd better start our investigation!" He walked through the front doors with Rose close behind. The door slammed open and dozens of heads turned to stare at them. "Ohh... Sorry! Don't mind us. We're just... going to go over there and sit..."

The preacher began the verses once everything was quiet, again. The Doctor slipped away part way through, leaving Rose at the pews.

Where would whatever he was looking for be? His sonic screwdriver had not been picking up anything out of the ordinary.

"What are you doing here?" A voice suddenly rang from behind him. "Service is still in session."

The Doctor turned around with a smile on his face. "Sorry! I was looking for the bathroom. You don't happen to know where it is, would you?"

The Father pursed his lips. "It is to the left in the entrance way."

"Right! Thank you very much. I'll be on my way now!" He wandered off, rounded the corner, and peeked back to see that the Father was already gone. "Well, now. Where could he have come from...?" His hands rapped on different parts of the wall and finally found a hollow spot. He pulled on a nearby lamp and the wall slid away. "Fantastic!"

There was a long spiral staircase that led down into the unknown. It was a long trek, but the trip was absolutely worth it. There were stone tablets and alien technology just waiting to be explored by the Doctor, but it would have to wait for three very unhappy priests with shining blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and large white wings were behind him. "Oh. Hello!"

"Who are you?" they spoke in unison.

"I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you!"

"Leave. You are unwelcome."

"Yes, well... I'll be going as soon as I find..." He quickly looked around and grinned widely. "This!" He ran towards a glowing orb on a pedestal. "The Orb of Cathlaya..." His eyes wanted back to the priests. "That would make you the Seraphixians - a long forgotten species that were mistaken for angels. Ooh... But you are nothing like them. You're more like... the angels of death - no mercy in you. None at all." He turned to the orb that was now in his hand. "Now, what would happen if I do... this!"

The orb shattered as it reached the floor. Wisps of silver mist spiraled upward and disappeared.

"You have defied God. Now you shall be judged!" They were holding hands, shining gold. "You shall be punished!"

A beam of light made its way towards the Doctor. He ducked and ran towards the stairs, they were blasted by another beam. "Okay, not this way. Not this way..."

"You shall be judged!" they roared, again.

"No," another voice intercepted. "It is you who shall be judged."

The Doctor dove behind one of the machines as bright light filled the entire room before disappearing. He peeked out and saw only one glowing figure. "Hello, again."

"Thank you, Doctor." She turned towards him. "Come, let us depart." White feathered wings burst from her back.

He took her hand and the two of them began to ascend, but he suddenly stopped her. He dropped three feet down and ran to the other side of the room. "Ah ha!" He held another orb in his hand. "The Orb of Durasia." It, too, fell to the ground and burst into hundreds of shards.

A gasp reached his ears. He turned to see the woman crumble on to the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling before her, screwdriver already in hand.

"I-" Her voice cracked. "It... hurts... Hurts..." Tears fell from her grey eyes, pouring down her cheeks. "Why does it hurt...?"

He held her against him. "It'll pass. It's just the contract breaking. Your emotions are returning and it'll take some time to get used to them. You'll be alright, soon. Right as rain! Or... maybe left as rain..." He rocked her in his arms as she continued to cry. "It's alright. You'll be alright."

"Doctor!" He heard Rose's voice echo down. "Doctor, are you there?"

"Just a moment!" he replied.

The woman before him took a deep breath and stood up. "Come, let us get out of here." Her voice was soft and airy. Much different from how she spoke before. She stretched out her wings and the two of them began to ascend, once more.

"You are not leaving, Adreanna." She let out a gasp as a burst of light went through her right wing.

"Fly, Doctor..." He felt a force push him upward, straight into Rose who was learning against the doorway.

He scrambled to his feet, just in time to see her glowing body hit the ground with a sickening crack. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" Another glowing figure was near her. Why hadn't it occurred to him that there could have been more than just three priests?! "Oooh... Now I'm really angry! And you won't like it when I'm angry."

The Seraphixian flew up towards him at an alarming pace.

"Run, Rose!"

"What?!" the blonde exclaimed. "You're angry! Shouldn't you have a plan?!"

"Nope! No plan, yet," he replied. "Just have to make it up as we go along."

They found the back door and rounded it to head back to the TARDIS, but another winged-alien blocked their path. "This way! This way!"

Familiar black iron gates reached their sight as they continued to run. "William! William! Gate! Gate!"

The man walked out from behind the door as the gates opened. "Daclaneron. Taclaneron. It was a mistake to show yourselves here. You were better off hiding behind your church walls." The earth began to tremor. Vines shot up from the rose bushes and wound themselves around the flying beings. "Perish!"

"Rose, duck!"

They dove under two benches just as a rain of blood and entrails poured around them.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

William sat on the bed beside the platinum blonde who laid lifelessly. "My lady…"

The Doctor closed his eyes. Not another one. Why couldn't he just save _one_? Just one…

A warm hand touched his shoulder comfortingly. Rose looked at him with doe-like eyes and smiled warming at him. "She's going to be alright, Doctor."

He didn't reply, but stroked her hand in appreciation.

William took one last look at Adreanna before walking off.

Not long after, Adreanna's fingers twitched. The Doctor rushed over and watched her intently. "Come on. Come on, you amazing girl! You can do it!"

Her body shuddered before her eyes fluttered open. "W-william?"

The Doctor grinned widely at her. "Nope!"

She gasped and jerked up at the foreign face. Her head collided with his chin and they both groaned in pain. "Ow…" She rubbed her head. "That hurt…"

"Well, yeah. Hurt me, too," the Doctor said, a hand on his chin. "Why did you go and do that for?"

"You frightened me!" she blurted out before blinking in confusion. "Oh…" She felt fear. She moved a hand to rest above her heart, which was pounding from the startle. "It feels… familiar… wonderful!" Her eyes brightened.

"What?" Rose looked at her in surprise. Why would fear feel wonderful?

The Doctor grinned at her. "It does, doesn't it? Makes you feel alive!"

Adreanna beamed at him. "Oh, I am happy. I like feeling happy." She touched her face experimentally, feeling the edges of her quirked lips. "Happy's good."

"Happy's fantastic!"

After a moment of celebrating she frowned and looked around. "Where is William?"

They shrugged. "He walked out."

Adreanna slowly got out of bed and balanced on her wobbly legs. She walked out without a word. "William?" She looked through every room in the spacious mansion. "William, where are you?"

Eventually, she found him standing in the library with his back towards her. "William?"

His dark hair was flowing gently in the wind that seemed to be coming from a source in front of him. "My Lady, I am glad that you are feeling better."

She smiled and began to walk towards him, but when he turned, she froze. In his hand was an orb that was glowing blue. With him facing her, she could feel the power that was pulsing from the sphere. "I am very glad that you are feeling better. He would kill me if I let you go."

"What are you speaking of?" Adreanna frowned. "Who is going to kill you?"

William gave her a mirthless smile. "I cannot tell you, My Lady, and I apologise for what I must do."

Adreanna took a step back when she spotted two hooded figures in front of her. "Why…?'

He said nothing.

She turned and ran towards the door, but had to stop when two more appeared, blocking her way. They began to cage her. "William, please. Do not do this. We will leave. We can find somewhere to hide where no one can find us."

"Do not worry, My Lady, you will not feel fear, any longer."

From the other side of the door, there was an odd whirling sound before a click. The Doctor and Rose burst through the door. "Leave her alone, William."

"Get rid of them," William ordered.

The Doctor looked at him before spotting a radio. "Perfect!"

"What?" Rose asked. "What's perfect?"

"What are you doing?" William frowned when he saw the mad man stand beside the radio.

"Never ever let me stand by the radio!" He activated his screwdriver, again, and the small electronic device let out a high pitch sound. "Come on!" He rushed over and grabbed Adreanna's hand.

"We cannot out run him."

"Of course, we can," the Doctor argued. "Watch, here we are out running hi-"

Suddenly, the plants in the vases around them burst into life. They grew in an inexplicable rate and the path in front of them was completely blocked. "This way! This way!" He led them into a room and locked the door. "Alright, three floors down. I'll go down first and…" He trailed off when he saw the grass begin to grow. "And I will wait here…"

Adreanna let out a slow breath of air before releasing her wings, unfortunately, while her body was alright, one of her wings still had a hole in it.

The Doctor slowly walked over and looked at it. "Why isn't it healing?"

"I am half human, Doctor. Most of the powers that you saw came from the orbs," she explained. "When they were destroyed, I used the last of it in the church. My normal healing factor is rather… slow. Much slower than one in a human being, even. I will be alright, soon enough."

"That's great, but how are we gonna get out?" Rose asked, looking anxiously at the door. Vines were starting to creep from the bottom crevice.

"This house is old," Adreanna said. "There are secrets here that even I do not know."

"What does that mean?" Rose frowned.

"It means that there are hidden passages!" the Doctor exclaimed, excitedly. "Touch everything! Every book, every candle holder, every chair!"

They scrambled around, leaving a mess in their wake before Rose finally cried out in triumph. "I found it!"

The glass table began to sink down, revealing a steep staircase. Without a second thought, the three ran down into the darkness. The spiral staircase led to a shrine with a large mirror. There were seven unlit candles sitting in front of the mirror on a marble table.

"What is that?" Rose asked, staring at the setup.

Above them, they could hear that the hooded figures had found out where they went. There was a descent of white feathers.

"No time!" the Doctor exclaimed and they were running, again. "Come on!"

They didn't know where they were running, but eventually, they found a wooden door. The Doctor wrenched it open and saw that it led into a beautiful rose garden. He was hesitant to enter, but with their pursuers so close behind, he led the girls through.

"This is my favourite part of the garden," Adreanna murmured. "I spent so much time to William here…"

The Doctor looked back to see her downcast eyes. "No time to reminisce."

Eventually, the three of them arrived on the streets outside of the gates of the manor. The sound of flapping wings signified that they had no time to slow down. "This way! This way!" The Doctor ducked to dodge a ball of blue light. "Haven't had this much exercise in a while!"

"I could do with less, Doctor!" Rose commented jokingly, knowing full well that if she were to keep travelling with the Doctor, this was inevitable. Her eyes quickly lit up when she spotted the familiar blue box around the corner. "The TARDIS!"

The Doctor raced forward and quickly inserted the key into the keyhole. He opened the door and ushered the two girls in. Before he was able to close the door, another ball of light flew towards him and hit the console. The console sparked and the TARDIS let out a sickening groan. The Doctor slammed the door shut and began to crank the wheel and pulled the lever.

Adreanna's widened when the TARDIS shook violently, making her lose balance and crashed on to the metal grated floor.

"Well, that was… fun," Rose ended with a grin at the Doctor who grinned back at her.

"That was fantastic!" he replied.

Adreanna still seemed to be in a state of shock as she looked around. "It… This was a small blue box!"

The Doctor waited expectantly at her. "Mon dieu, it is bigger on the inside! What is this place?"

"We're inside the TARDIS," he stated. "That is Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

"So we're… technically in another dimension?"

"Exactly."

Adreanna breathed in deeply and exhaled several times. "Where… are you going to take me, now?"

"Anywhere you want to go," he replied, happily. "I can take you to seventeen ninety – the start of the French Revolution or – "

"Let's not, Doctor." Rose laughed. "Last time you tried to go there, we ended up here!"

"This is a time machine?" He couldn't possibly be serious.

"And a space machine. It's in the name – Time and Relative Dimensions in Space." The Doctor gave her an appraising look. "Or… if you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here… with us."

Adreanna wasn't sure if she would be able to handle living with them. From what she could tell, the Doctor and Rose lived a very dangerous life. Was it something she wanted? Her long two and a half century life had been relatively monotonous up until this point. "Alright. If you will have me, I will stay."

The Doctor grinned happily and pulled down another lever.

Maybe this wasn't exactly what she wanted, but perhaps it is exactly what she needed.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Doctor Who or anything you recognise!

This is actually a story I've written three years ago. I've gone over and changed some things. Hopefully it's to your liking.

For this story, I'm hoping to still abide by the canon plot, but putting my own original twists to weave in and out of what you are already familiar with.

I welcome constructive feedback and will always strive to do better.

S.A.K.


	2. The Scar

**CHAPTER TWO: THE SCAR**

Rose sat on the jump seat, staring at the woman who was on the TARDIS floor with her eyes closed. "So, you're kind of like an angel, right? Can you see when I am going to die?" She paused. "Well, maybe not... I don't think I want to know when I die..."

"I cannot," Adreanna said, shaking her head. "I am only half Seraphixian. My father was human."

"So if you were a full… Seraphishun, you _can_ see when I'll die?"

"Not an exact time per se." Adreanna pondered for a moment. "Will… _He_ once described it as an array of colours."

"These colours… What represents what? Do they always change?"

"They gradually fade. Infants glow light blue when they are born healthy. As they age, the colour will slowly darken to black, which signifies death.

"That's very interesting." Rose nodded before another thought came to mind. "Is there such a place as Heaven or Hell?"

Adreanna stood up and brushed herself off. "The human concept of Heaven is quite different from what is truly there. The souls that are sent off cross over into a realm that is merely nothingness. Just a white plain with no sky, grass, trees..."

"That's… not very exciting."

"Who is this _he_?" The Doctor wormed away from beneath the console. "The man William was referring to. "

"I do not know," Adreanna replied. "I have never met him and William has never mentioned him to me."

Suddenly alarms began to ring, the TARDIS shook violently.

"What's the emergency?" Rose shouted, running to the Doctor.

"It's mauve," he replied.

"Mauve? What happened to red?"

"Mauve is the universal code for danger, only humans use red."

The TARDIS had locked in on an alien missile that was heading straight for London. It shook violently, causing everyone to stumble from one side to the next. As it came to a halt, everyone tumbled to the ground.

The Doctor checked the time before giving them a sheepish look. They seemed to have arrived at the wrong time, again - a month after the alien object landed.

"The Blitz?" Adreanna mumbled.

The Doctor opened his mouth to give a snide remark until he remembered who she was. "Right, sorry, Adreanna. Probably not somewhere you want to be for your first trip."

"Anna is fine," she replied.

"Anna! What ever it is may change the whole course of history," he explained.

Anna gave him a long stare before nodding. She watched the Doctor snoop around and Rose become distracted by something. Caught between two different directions, she decided to stay where she was. It seemed to be the best option until she heard Rose shouting for help.

The teenager had managed to get herself stuck in a very bad situation. She was hanging hundreds of metres above the ground with her legs flailing about. Her union jack shirt was like a flag for the German invaders to lock-in on.

"Rose! Hang on, I will retrieve the Doctor!" she shouted as she entered through the door that the Doctor had broken into. Unfortunately, right at that time, the warning sirens rang loudly over everything. People were rushing out from all exits, pushing her away. "Doctor! Doctor!" When she finally reached the stage, there was no one left. "Doctor!"

She ran back out, but couldn't find Rose anywhere. Explosions shook the ground. They were deafeningly loud and all she could do was hope that Rose was still hanging on – alive.

"Are you my mummy?" She twirled around to see a young boy with a gas mask on his face. "Are you my mummy?"

"I- Are you lost?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"I am sorry, but I am not your mummy. I can... help you find her if you wish," she offered, extending her hand. She knew what it was like to be lost and for such a young child... Her heart would not be able to bear leaving him in this chaos.

"Mummy?" He took her hand.

She felt something tingle on her hand, something odd... foreign. There was something terribly wrong with him, she thought as she stroked the gash on the back of his hand. His skin was cold. Was he alive? Was he dead? Perhaps he's an alien from the alien object? "Come along."

They wandered aimlessly on the streets, not really having a destination. At times, he would tug at her hand at a certain direction, but not long after, his hand would go limp, again. "Do you know where your mother is?"

"Mummy?" He didn't seem to be able to say much more than that.

Eventually, he led her into a house and ran off into a random direction. She looked around, wondering what was so special about this house. Did his mother live here?

"Mummy?" she heard him call out again. "Where's my mummy? Mummy?"

She found him in the dining room and saw a young woman about to race out, but the door slammed shut. "Are you alright? Is she your mother? Open the door!"

"It's me, Nancy," she heard a female voice announce in fear. "It's me - your sister. Jamie, you're dead. You're dead."

"Mummy. Mummy."

"Open the door!" Anna shouted, hitting the door. She placed her forehead on the wood, closing her eyes. There was a soft 'click' as the door opened and the boy brushed past her with his dead downcast in a guilty fashion. Her eyes looked over to the woman who had collapsed in relief. "Are you his mother?"

Her fearful eyes stared back at Anna. "Your hand..." Anna looked down at her hand and saw a pale line on the back. "You let him touch you..." The pale female took a step towards the other who pressed herself against the wall. "Don't come near me!"

"I do not understand," said Anna. "Who is he? You are his mother, are you not?"

"I... I..."

Anna shook her head. "How could you leave him by himself? He is but a child. He-"

"He's dead!" Nancy shouted. "He's not supposed to be alive. He's... He's empty."

"Never mind," Anna muttered and ran off to find the child. "Jamie? Jamie, where are you? Jamie!"

There was no sight of the boy, but she did spot the object the Doctor was looking for from a distance. It was fenced off, with military cars and tents everywhere. Eventually, she caught sight of a girl in a union jack shirt. "Rose?"

The blonde turned to look at her with a wide smile. "Anna!"

Anna ran towards them, but Nancy screamed, "No! Don't let her come near! She's... She touched him."

"What?" The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes. "Why did you let him touch you?"

"What are you talking about? He is a child of what - four? Five? You cannot expect me to just leave him by himself in a middle of the war." Anna's eyes were filled with sorrow.

"I- Forget it. I think I know what is causing this," the Doctor announced.

"What?" Rose looked to the Doctor.

"What do you expect from a medical transporter?"

"I don't know." Rose paused before it came to her. "Nano genes!"

"Oh, God," a stranger groaned. He was attractive. Tall, dark and handsome, clad in a military uniform.

Anna looked around, wondering what she should do. Should she leave? She rubbed the back of her hand, absentmindedly. This really wasn't how she expected her first trip to be. Finally regaining her freedom and she was going to end up dead a day later.

She sat on the ground, fingering the dirt.

"I won't let you die," the Doctor said from beside her. "Give me some time and I will figure it out."

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "I trust you, Doctor. You gave me my life back. I would never regret coming with you."

He smiled back at her. "Good."

Suddenly, a mob of people wearing gas masks appeared. They were all chanting the same thing. "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy..."

Anna closed her eyes, resting her head on her knees. Even though she trusted the Doctor, the hopelessness was still present. She had thought her first trip would be to somewhere more peaceful. Maybe it was just her. Rose turned out fine. Maybe time travelling wasn't for her. First trip and she was already getting herself killed.

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."

There was no point in fighting if she was going to become like them anyway. She didn't open her eyes until she felt the same tingle from before. There were hundreds of gold nano genes around her.

"I told you that I would figure it out." The Doctor was beside her, again.

"I never doubted you, Doctor," she whispered. "Thank you."

He helped her stand up and the two made their way to all the other people who were cured. A happy ending. Happy endings were good.

Suddenly, the heard a large bomb falling towards them with frightening speed, but a beam of blue stopped it in its place. The military man was sitting on it with a large grin on his face.

"Is there anywhere you can take it to minimize the damage?" the Doctor shouted to him.

"Yeah," he answered. "I'll take care of it."

He disappeared, but reappeared seconds later. "And Rose, I like your shirt."

Rose smiled at him as he faded into nothing.

The three of them said their farewells to Nancy and her son, Jamie, who gave Anna a hug. "Take care." She kissed him on the forehead. "You too, Nancy. Do not forget how precious life is, especially the life of your child."

"I won't, Anna," she said back. "Thank you."

As soon as everyone left, the Doctor set the nano gene container to self-destruct. "Come on, we have five minutes."

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

They had settled back inside the TARDIS where Anna brewed them some nice, hot tea.

"So where's Jack?" Rose asked the Doctor. "I thought maybe he'd travel with us."

He gave her a look before setting the coordinates. The door opened to reveal the inside of an aircraft.

Jack stared at the blue box in wonder before grinning. He spied Rose and the Doctor dancing. "May I cut in?" He leered at them.

Rose laughed and was about to take his hand, but the Doctor changed the music. "I think I remember how to dance, again!" He did a little jig, recapturing Rose's attention. She joined him in the odd dance.

Jack stood staring at the sideline with a smile on his face until he noticed another presence in the room. "Oh, well now." He leered at the pale girl who was looking at him before making his way over. "Captain Jack Harkness." Her hand felt soft in his own and on his lips as he kissed her knuckles. "What is this fair maiden's name?"

She smiled at him, melting his heart. "Anna."

"Would you like to dance?"

"I would love to."

The two pairs danced until their feet ached.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

This chapter is considerably shorter, but next one is guaranteed to be much longer. I'm really split between wanting to create my own originality in a canon plot and trying to remain true to it. Throughout this entire story, I want to be able to produce some character development for Anna. There's a lot of subtly, but also things that are quite blatant. Hopefully it doesn't become too confusing and I make her out of character.

Right now, my main worry is that Anna might come out as Mary Sue. I'd love for any constructive criticism and I'll try to fix up mistakes.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review :)

S.A.K.


	3. The Ignition

**CHAPTER THREE: THE IGNITION**

The first thing that Anna noticed when she woke up was a pounding headache that was threatening to rip her head apart. The second thing she noticed was that it was very bright and looked nothing like the TARDIS. Where was she?

Her eyes wandered around, taking in her surroundings. There wasn't much. The chamber reminded her very much of the throne room she had back at the manor. Everything was white with large pillars all around. The only difference was that it had odd writings on the walls, a white marble table in the middle of the room, and half a dozen of vases scattered around.

Beside her was a figure clad in black, but not another soul could be seen. "Doctor?" she called, gently shaking the unconscious form. "Doctor, are you alright?"

He groaned and rolled over on to his back. "Did you spike my tea?"

"Spike?" She tilted her head.

His grey eyes looked at her confused face and chuckled. "Of course, you didn't. Now, where are we?"

"I do not know."

He jumped to his feet and inspected the writings, but could not seem to decipher what it was saying. "Odd... The TARDIS should be translating all this for us." His sonic screwdriver scanned the writings. Nothing. He also tried to walk to the door, but some sort of barrier was in the way.

"Do you know how we got here?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "I woke up only minutes before you did. The last thing I remember was dancing with the captain and then going to bed."

"Right, me too," the Doctor agreed. "Except, I didn't dance with him and I didn't go to bed."

Anna gave him an odd look and let out a laugh. He looked at her, enjoying the sound. This was the first time he had heard her laugh. It was very pleasant.

"We must've been moved here by a transmat… I guess we can just sit around until either of us thinks of something," he said, taking a seat beside her, his back leaning against the table. "You know, this place reminds me of a place-"

She laughed again. "I apologize," she managed in between giggles.

"Hear me out!" The Doctor feigned irritation. "Right so, this looks like a place where people - aliens - perform sacrifices. Without all the blood..."

"You are right," she agreed. "But it also reminds me of..." Her grey eyes grew light with tears as she thought back to the manor in France. "I do not ever want to return to that life, Doctor."

He hadn't noticed before... Anna may be hundreds of years old, but she was still a child. Her life had not been lived and there are many things that she had never seen or experienced. "If you stick with me, I'll take you from one end of the universe to the other. We could see the very beginning of time and see the end of the universe."

She smiled at him. "I would like that very much, Doctor."

"Good." He smiled back at her. "Well, since we have the time. Why don't you tell me a bit about your past. Before all that - that..." He flailed his hands, trying to express what he was thinking.

"I was born in the eighteenth century, in Versailles, to a Seraphixian mother and a human father. Seventeen-seventy, it was," she started. "I never knew my mother. She died at childbirth, but I have heard many stories. Everyone liked her - kind woman. She was very different from everyone else in Seraphixia. Father, however, was a busy man. I barely got to see him. He had a wife and many mistresses, my mother was only another woman to him. His main mistress had several miscarriages and was left barren. Died at a young age of forty-two. Never met her - before my time, but I heard she was a genius of some sort."

"And you?"

"I was ordinary, really. Never anything special. I stayed in the background as a child. My caretaker was a strict woman, but she knew what she was doing. Made me do things on my own, but was there for me when I really needed her. She became ill and died when I was eight. I was left on my own afterwards, never having one constant person in my life.

"But it is all in the past, now." She looked at him. "I have a new future to look forward to."

The Doctor patted her hand.

"What about you, Doctor?" she asked. "What was your life like? Your family?"

"Well... I-"

Suddenly, the walls began to glow silver. No, it was the writings. They danced in the air and began to shift.

"What is going on?" Anna whispered, standing up. "What is hap-" Her eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips. "Wha-?"

Her breath came out in pants - body beginning to burn. "Doctor..." She looked at him and found that he was still sitting on the floor. His eyes were clenched shut, as were his hands. "Doctor." She touched him on the shoulder and was immediately pulled down.

His eyes were swirling silver, the same colour as the writings. "Doctor, what is - mmph! Mmm..."

She closed her eyes, feeling herself enjoy the kiss. His lips were soft and warm. After a minute, she began to feel her lungs beg for air. She pushed him away, but he pulled her back. "No. Sto-" His hands roamed down the side of her body. "Something is wrong, Doctor. Something is-" She gasped loudly as he slid a hand up her dress. "Oh... I have never-" Another gasp left her lips. "Please..."

"Please what, Anna?" His voice was husky, filled with need.

"I-I..."

"Tell me," he purred.

"Doctor," she moaned.

He shifted, allowing her to feel his bulge.

"Doctor! This is not right!"

His body went rigid. "Anna. Anna, I don't know what's going on, but I can't... I can't control myself." He buried his face into the crook of her neck. "Let me have you, Anna..."

"But I have never... Never done it before," Anna protested. "Please, we have to stop. Someone brought us here. Someone with a plan. Someone who- DocTOR!" A small scream escaped and she weakly slapped his hand away. Her own resolves were crumbling.

"Nothing under that dress? Naughty!"

All around them the silver characters shifted and formed new patterns, but neither were in any state of mind to notice.

Fortunately, before anything could happen, Jack and Rose arrived.

They rushed over, but hit the barrier and bounced off. Jack ran about, observing the writings on the wall, until frustration completely took over and he decided to break anything he could find. Walls and pillars chipped, but as one of the vases shattered, he saw the force field flicker.

The two went around the room, breaking all seven of them, and ran to the centre of the room. "Doctor! Anna!"

Both forms seemed to snap out of their trance.

"Doctor...?" Anna shifted and knew that something was very, very wrong. She looked around and spotted the other two people in the chamber. "Rose. Jack. What... happened?" Her eyes shifted downward. "Oh... No... Why am I... Why are we...?"

"Come on, Anna." Jack helped her to her feet and draped his coat on her small body. "Here."

Her legs collapsed from beneath her when she took the first step. Jack caught her and instructed Rose to get the Doctor back into the TARDIS.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

A few days had passed and neither the Doctor nor Anna could meet each other's eyes. Thing were beyond awkward. It was impossible for them to forget what happened. Whenever Anna closed her eyes, she would see them pressed together and the worse thing was... She didn't hate it. It was a frightening experience, but the way the Doctor touched her - it was nothing like anything she had every felt. His coarse hands on her body. There were tingles everywhere. Was there something wrong with her? She had been controlled by something... Even knowing that, she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if Jack and Rose hadn't arrived on time. She almost _wanted_ to see what would happen. Did that make her a common harlot?

"Anna?" she heard Jack's voice through the other side of her bedroom door. "Anna, are you alright? Need some... company?"

"I am alright, Jack," she replied.

"Good! Because the Doctor has just landed us back to twenty-first century London."

She took a deep breath. "I think I will stay here for the trip. Feeling rather sleepy. Go on, have fun."

"Anna, may I come in?" Jack started opening the door, but her loud protest made him stop. She was afraid. She couldn't let him in. What if she lost it and ended up... She shook her head to clear those thoughts away. "Well... I guess... We'll be back soon. You wouldn't even notice that we were gone."

Anna heard his footsteps slowly fade away and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she was handling this badly, pushing everyone away, but she couldn't think with them there. Jack was charming, but distracting. There was some attraction there and it certainly wasn't anything she wanted to feel at the moment. Rose always seemed so natural around the Doctor and she envied that. The Doctor, himself... there was really no need to even start with him.

When she had first decided to join them on their adventures, she hadn't even given a thought about the Doctor and his relationship with Rose. It didn't occur to her that they would be romantically involved, but after spending several days with them, it was apparent that there was something there. Even when Rose allowed Jack's advances, she still had her eyes on the Doctor. Anna could see the immediate dislike of any female around the time traveler and vice versa with Rose and any men.

Ever since their incident in the white chamber, Rose had been giving her the cold shoulder despite the fact that neither the Doctor nor Anna truly knew what they were doing at that moment.

It was still a mystery to what had happened, but they were all glad that it was over and that they had gotten away physically unscathed. Her heart still raced whenever she recalled what occurred. She couldn't seem to let it go.

Unbeknownst to her, several hours had passed as she pondered about what her future in the TARDIS would be and the other residents of the TARDIS had returned. She did, however, noticed when the TARDIS began to shake. The lights were flashing ominously above her.

She leapt to her feet and raced out, only to see the Doctor, Jack, and Rose stare at one spot. "Are you... alright?"

The Doctor was the first to snap out of it, but he ignored her and went about hammering the console, while Jack smiled at her as if everything was normal.

"Everything is perfect when you're around," he said. "Now, go take a shower."

Anna tilted her head. "Do I... stink?"

Jack burst out laughing. "No, but we'll be going somewhere in a bit and you have bed head. Although… If you want, we can just stay here. The bed head look is rather sexy on you."

She blinked at him owlishly before blushing. She raced back to her room with her hands on her head, listening to Jack's laughter fade away. His teasing words did not affect her as she thought it would. Maybe everything will be alright, after all.

When she came back out with her hair tamed and clad in a mid-thigh length dress, they had already landed. She noticed that everyone was bundled up pretty well, except for her and the Doctor who was adorned in his usual leather jacket.

"That won't do, angel," Jack said. "Best dress in something warmer than that little number."

"Where are we?"

"Take a look for yourself," Rose piped in, opening the TARDIS door. Snow fluttered about, covering everything in its wake. The bone-chilling wind immediately made Anna shiver. "We thought that you probably hadn't celebrated Christmas in who knows how long."

Anna continued to shiver, but a smile made its way to her face. "Thank you. Now, give me a minute to get a coat." She raced back into her room, pulled out the first coat she saw, and raced back to the people waiting.

The four of them made their way out into the cold. "Are we still in London?" Anna asked.

"Yep," the Doctor replied without looking at her. "In the year nineteen ninety-nine, December twenty-third. In eight days, the world was thought to reach its end."

"But it didn't," Rose said, looping her arm with the Doctor's. "Come on, I want to do some shopping!"

Jack saw a flash of jealousy appear in Anna's eyes, which quickly faded as she looked down towards the snow-covered ground. "You go ahead, Anna and I will be doing our own little Christmas shopping. Right, Anna?" He pulled her close in front of him before placing his hat on her head. His eyes flickered over to watch the Doctor and saw the same look of jealousy in his grey eyes. What an odd couple…

"Alright, then." The Doctor turned away. "Have fun."

Anna watched the two stroll away. They looked good together - perfect even.

She felt Jack give her hand a small squeeze and turned to the handsome man in front of her. "Come on. Let's go into that shop!" He pointed at the dress boutique across the street.

"Do you think they take francs?"

Jack shrugged. "We can ask them."

They tread through the snow and entered the store. There were hundreds of dresses in racks and mannequins - all looking expensive enough to require a second loan. The bored store clerk was sitting with a magazine in front of her. She was a rather elderly lady with more white than grey hair.

"Hello, miss," Jack purred at the woman. "Looking pretty on this beautiful day."

The woman blushed and gave a small giggle. "Young man, shame on you - flirting with a grandmother like me."

"Grandmother?" He feigned shock. "You can't be a day over thirty!"

"Oh, stop it!"

"Of course. Now, we have a little question. Do you possibly take francs? My girlfriend had just arrived from France and I have American dollars if either is accepted."

Anna held out a handful of her coins, showing them to the woman who dropped the magazine on to the floor. "Th-those are hundreds of years old!"

"Are they not accepted, anymore?" Anna whispered. "I only have these."

Jack hit his forehead with his hand. "Sorry, we'll be going to the bank. Be back in a few." He steered her out the store and burst out laughing at Anna's puzzled expression. "Oh, Anna. When did the Doctor pick you up?"

"A few days before we met you."

"No, no. I mean... What was the time period he was in when he arrived?"

"The year twenty-ten," she answered, finally understanding the question, but it left Jack with more to ask.

"Then how can you not have any current money?!"

Anna looked away with a blush on her face. "Well... I never left the house to do anything other than... what I had to do. I was not in charge of the shopping at the manor. William took care of everything for me."

One dark eye brow rose. "William? Your boyfriend?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "My friend and companion for the greater part of my life, but… he turned out to be someone I never knew… Never mind."

"Ah... And how long have you been living this life?"

"I was born in... seventeen seventy... That would make me two hundred forty-one had I stayed until Christmas."

"Two hundred forty-one..." Jack shook his head. "Even after knowing everything about aliens from being a time agent, I still find it odd. Never mind. Let's find a bank and exchange some money." When Anna started to give him her coins, he shook his head. "I'm not sure they'll be accepting those. Besides, I have my credit card aaaand... I don't think you know what that is..." he added once he noticed the confused look on her face. "This thing?" He waved the plastic around.

"What does this do?" She took it into her hand, rotating it. "How does this get you money?"

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Jack chuckled. "You have so much to learn, my young grass hopping angel."

"What?"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Turn around." She turned. "It's so hard to decide," she heard Jack whine. "They all look so good on you. Maybe we can just get them all?"

Her eyes widened as she shook her head fervently. "It will be too expensive, Jack."

"You know something? I don't think I've ever heard you use a contraction."

"It is improper."

"Improper?" Jack snorted. "You lived until the twenty-first century. There is no such thing as improper anymore. Not true if you've been to the fifty-first century, but never mind that. Come on, try it. Maybe you'll like it and start using it more."

"I... I don't want to buy all these dresses," Anna said.

"Great! For that, I'll grant you your wish and just get... this, this, this." He began sorting through the pile. "This, this, this, this, this, aaaand this."

"That is nearly every one that I tried!" She tried to stop him.

"_Nearly,_ but not all," Jack stated. "You see this one? Pink with black polka dots really doesn't suit you that much. Not sure if I even like it on the mannequin... Let's get these rung up and then we can do some shopping for Rose and the Doctor."

"Jack! Stop! I have enough dresses. I don't need to buy so many!"

"Oh, you used a contraction, again. Told you you'd like it. Ring this up, my lady!"

The sales clerk gaped at the large pile of clothes on the counter and slowly began to work her way through it. By the time she was done, the soft snowing became a blizzard. "Damn! Knew I should've asked the Doctor for a key or something. Hey! Do you mind if we just leave our stuff here for now? We'll be back for it in a couple of hours." The lady nodded and the two departed the boutique. "Let's see... What would Rose like...?"

"Maybe we can give her one of the dresses?" Anna suggested.

Jack shook his head. "The two of you aren't quite the same size. You're a bit taller, slimmer. Rose is curvier. Not saying that you don't have curves, you do." He ran a hand down the side of her body and immediately felt her flinch away. "Sorry! Sorry!" His face became void of any jokes. "You know... You should really talk about it. Can't keep it bottled up side forever. It'll start destroying you from the inside out."

"I... I cannot, Jack," Anna whispered, tears slowly leaking from her eyes. "I... It is just that... I feel so dirty - so ashamed."

The former time agent frowned. "Why would you feel that? You know what happened is not your fault."

"I know that! But-but I _liked_ it," Anna quietly confessed. "I liked the way he made me feel. I liked being with him - being connected to him. It felt _right_. I'm glad that my first time was with him, but... I know that he loves Rose. I can see it. Anyone with eyes can see it. The way they look at each other... We do not share the same connection. He thinks of me as nothing more than another companion, perhaps an unwanted one." The tears were falling freely, now. "You know, when the Doctor asked me to stay in the TARDIS with them, Rose did not look too thrilled. I think they like it like that - just the Doctor and Rose, not the Doctor, Rose, and Anna."

Jack took the girl into his arms and held her close as she continued to spill her heart out. "But even after I knew... I still wanted to go with him. He gave me my freedom. He opened a new world for me and... whenever I look at him, I feel my stomach flutter and my heart skip. I... I think I love him, Jack." It must've sounded ridiculous to him. She barely knew the Doctor and she's already sounding so clingy.

"Maybe you're not seeing the whole picture," Jack reasoned, remembering the look he saw pass over the Doctor's face when he gave Anna his hat. "Maybe he likes you more than you think."

Anna shook her head. "Never more than Rose. I will never be able to compete. She is young, full of life, beautiful. Me? I am broken, Jack. I know I am. I have spent nearly two centuries without feeling and now, I cannot catch up with the modern times and... there is nothing unique about me. I cannot even fly anymore. All I can do are stupid, little energy balls." She turned her palm upward and showed him a small, white orb.

"That look pretty cool." He touched it experimentally. His hand couldn't quite touch it. There seemed to be a pulsing force coming from it. It didn't hurt, though. Then, he blinked. "Fly?"

"I am part Seraphixian," she explained. "We are what humans model their angels to be."

"So when I call you an angel, I'm not that far off? Can I see them?" Anna took his hand and led him into a dark alley. "Should I be worried? Dragged into a dark place where no one will hear me scream if you-" She hit him on the shoulder. "Getting violent?"

"Stop it if you still want to see them." That shut him up.

Anna took off her coat and handed it to Jack, then took a deep breath. There was a rip before beautiful white feathered wings burst out from her back. They had a soft silver glow that left him in awe, until he noticed a hole as big as his hand in the right wing. "What happened here?"

"Happened on the day the Doctor saved me. We were escaping from the basement of a church, built by the Seraphixians who kept my curse in place. Neither of us noticed that one of them was still there. I only felt the pain and the fall, then nothing. It is useless, now. The air just goes straight through it. Cannot go anywhere with them."

"So you're a fallen angel, now, are you?" Jack gathered him back into his arms. "That's alright. I don't mind."

She shook her head and made the wings return to their previous state. "I am a disgrace. Cannot do anything right. Cannot even fit in with anyone."

"The two of us can form our own little group." He grinned down at her. "I can get a pair of fake wings and we can be the Fallen Angels."

Anna gave a small laugh, brushing away the last of the tears. "Let us go find them then."

"As long as you start using _contractions!_"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

A few hours had passed since they began their shopping spree. Jack and Anna returned to the boutique to retrieve the dresses with several other bags in their hands. They raced through the snow, which had started the melt when the sky cleared up. "I still want to try ice cream!" Anna shouted at him.

"And I said that it was right beside the TARDIS!" he shouted back. "It's just right around that cor-" He froze, causing Anna, who was right behind, to crash into him.

"Jack? What's wrong?" She made to peek over him, but was pushed back. "I want that ice cream. You got me all excited an-"

"We can get it somewhere else," he said. "I saw this other place on our way here."

"B-but... We are already here! We're by an ice cream parlour _by the TARDIS_. I don't want to go all the way back _there_," Anna whined.

It was too late when Jack tried to stop Anna from stepping around him. He closed his eyes as he heard her soft gasp and the bags hitting the snow.

He had wanted to stop her from seeing the Doctor and Rose kissing. Even to his eyes, it looked perfect. The Doctor looked more relax than he had ever seen and Rose... Rose's hair glowed like an angel as the sun shone above them. The gales had turned into nothing by soft breezes that swirled around them. This was going to break Anna's heart.

"Anna..." He pulled her back around the corner. His eyes were filled with sorrow at the look on her face. Tears were pouring down and her lips trembled in an attempt of stopping her sobs from being heard. "Anna. Don't cry. Don't cry. He's not worth it, angel."

"But it still hurts..." Anna whispered. "It still hurts so much. It feels like someone has their hand wrapped around my heart, and they're squeezing it... so tightly... It hurts..."

Jack held her tightly in his arms and the two waited in the shadows for the appropriate time to return to the TARDIS. They waited until they could hear Rose and the Doctor reminisce about their past adventures. Jack strolled in first with his usual smile and Anna trailed behind, avoiding eye contact with both of them.

"Jack!" Rose laughed. "Did you buy out the entire street? Poor Anna looks like she's about to be buried in those bags and boxes!"

"Hey, it isn't often that a man like me could buy to his heart content for a pretty woman," Jack defended himself. He felt the Doctor's eyes bore into his skull, but what the hell? You only get to live once! No way was Jack going to let the Doctor have both of them!

Rose laughed, again. "Right. Always the flirt. Anna, you've got to show me all of your new dresses and maybe let me try some on."

Anna shot Jack a pleading look, but he only shook his head and gave her a nudge with his boot. When the two females were safely away from earshot, he placed the bags down, and turned to the Doctor. He walked up to him and grabbed the startled Doctor's collar, slamming him against the TARDIS. "What do you think you're playing at?"

"What?!" the Doctor shouted in shock. "What are you talking about? You're the one who strolled up to me and thought it'd be fun to play smash the Doctor!"

"I'm talking about Anna, _Doctor_," Jack growled. He felt the Doctor's body stiff. "You don't know what you're doing to her."

"What are you talking ab-"

"How can you be so clever, yet so blind to everything around you" he continued. "You're hurting her, Doctor. I saw those looks you gave me whenever I'm near her. I know you like her, but you also like Rose.. Don't play with their feelings. Tell Anna if you don't like her. Don't leave her hanging like this. She's trying to deal with what happened and now she has to deal with her feelings for you."

"W-what?" Feelings? Anna likes him? "I-"

"That's all, Doctor," Jack said. "That's all I have to say. Think about it, but don't let it be too late. Because you know, I may not have a sports car, but I'd classify myself as one hell of a good looking guy." He left the Doctor alone to his own thoughts.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Oooh, I like this one," Rose squealed with the dress pressed against her body, twirling around and posing in front of the mirror. "Can I try it on?"

Anna nodded.

Rose grinned happily at the sight in front of her. The dress was a bit tight and it swept the floor, but it accentuated every curve on her body, making her feel like a first place beauty pageant contestant. "It looks beautiful on you, Rose."

"Wait here, I'm going to show the Doctor!" She zoomed off, leaving Anna to her thoughts.

It was great that Rose was having fun and the two were starting to patch up their friendship, but she suspected that the Doctor had something to do with it.

"He said it looked really nice!" Rose shouted the moments he returned.

"What is your relationship with the Doctor?" Anna blurted out.

Rose took a seat on the bed and grinned widely at her. "He... He's just the most bizarre, quirky, amazing, lovable man! Keep it a secret, but... I think... I think I might actually have fallen _in love_ with him." She failed to notice Anna's expression as she continued on. "My life was going nowhere before I met him - not particularly smart, still lived with my mum, just had my job blown to pieces, quite literally. Then he came along and took me into his blue box.

"Ha! I still remember mum slapping him in the face! He said he had never been slapped by anyone's mother before. There was this big glob of plastic - the Nestene, who kidnapped my boyfriend, Mickey. A useless lump he was, but the Doctor and I... we were a great team!" Rose turned to Anna who hadn't spoken a word since she started her story and asked, "What about you and Captain Jack Harkness? Don't lie to me, I saw chemistry between you two."

Anna tilted her head. "Chemistry?"

"You know, when he looks at you, your stomach flutters. When he touches you, your skin tingles. You know, _that_," Rose explained.

"There is nothing like that between Jack and I," Anna stated. "He is only a friend." She did, however, feel all that whenever she was with the Doctor.

"Didn't I tell you not to lie?" Rose grinned. "You guys spend so much quality time together, but it's kind of nice. You get to go on your own adventure with Jack and I get to spend some time alone with the Doctor."

Anna didn't like the direction of this conversation, nor did she like the feeling of her heart sinking as every second ticked by. "Rose, I apologize, but... I am feeling rather fatigued, right now. Probably from all the shopping Jack dragged me through. He really tired me out, today."

"Oh, I bet he did," Rose teased. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Oh! The dress. Give me a minute to get it off an-"

"Keep it, Rose," Anna interrupted the blonde. "Think of it as an early Christmas present. Besides, you said the Doctor liked it, right? Go impress him. The two of you look great together." It wasn't a lie, as much as she wanted it to be.

"Are you sure? It's beautiful. Must've cost a fortune!"

Anna gave her a small smile. "Jack paid."

Rose gave a short laugh. "Of course. Thanks for the dress. I'll give you your present in two days. Night!"

"Good night, Rose." Anna watched the door close and slumped against the headboard, energy completely depleted.

Rose was in love with the Doctor. The Doctor is obviously in love with Rose. There was no Anna in this picture and she was going to have to accept it. Maybe she should ask the Doctor to bring her back to France or maybe even the New World.

The Seraphixian fell asleep with those thoughts still walking around in her head.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

I've been debating whether I should take out the first part of this chapter. I really don't want this story to be rated M, but there's a purpose of why it's there. I'm just wondering, maybe I could've done it differently.

I also understand that Anna's character is a bit awkward, right now. She will slowly develop throughout the story and the next installment, which is what I'm working on (when I really shouldn't... One more final exam to go! Woooo)

As always, constructive criticism is highly appreciated and so are general questions and comments!

S.A.K.


	4. The Game

**CHAPTER FOUR: THE GAME**

"ke -p!"

"Wak- U-!"

"WAKE UP!"

Anna sat up, gasping. Her eyes, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Sorry, can't talk," the girl who woke her up said. "It'll be my turn next and I don't want to miss it."

"Miss what?"

"The audition," a boy stated, as if he was talking to a mentally challenged person. "Did you hit your head on the way?"

"I... no... I am sorry. I really don't know what is happening."

He crossed his arms. "Never mind. If your name is Anna, your audition in after _her._ Just have a song in mind."

"How did you...?"

He sighed and pointed at the sign behind her. "A-N-N-A. Anna. I may only be ten, but I'm not stupid."

"I did not mean it that way."

"Right, well. It's your turn," he said as the girl from before walked out with a relieved look on her face.

She came over to the two. "I passed! I'm going to the next round!"

"Anna!" A woman with headsets pushed her through the door. "Go! Go! You're on in... Five... Four... Three... Two... and Go!"

Anna walked into the room. There was nothing particularly special about it, except for the fact that there were three robots in front of her, sitting behind a desk.

"So what's your name, sweetheart?" the middle robot asked. It had a female voice.

"Anna."

"Anna, and what do you do for a living?"

"I... travel...?"

"Oh, that's good. What song are you going to sing for us?"

Song. Song. Song. Song. "_Phantom of the Opera_," she finally blurted out. She had never felt so glad about William dragging her to see the opera. She frowned. She couldn't possibly be missing him, could she?

"Great song," the robot to the left said. This one was male.

"Start when you're ready."

Anna took a deep breath and began to sing.

"Brilliant!" the left one said, clapping his robotic hands. "Absolutely brilliant. One of my favourites tonight."

"Yes, it was beautifully sung," the middle added. "You have a voice of an angel. Simoid?"

"It was nice, but I wouldn't say that it is one of my favourites," Simoid, the last robot, gave his input. "Let's vote! Randroid?"

"It's a yes for me."

"Sharoid?"

"It's a yes for me."

"Well, three 'yes's," Simoid said. "Congratulations, you pass to the next round."

Anna was still impossibly confused. The moment she left the room, the girl looked disappointed. "Oh... I guess you passed. I thought you'd be easy competition, seeing as you were so clueless... Guess you got lucky."

"How did you know I passed?" Anna asked. "I could have easily been rejected and still walked out the door."

The girl looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "You _wouldn't_ be walking out that door if you didn't pass. You'd be a pile of dust."

"What?"

"You know... dust... What other word is there for dust?"

"No, I mean... Why would I be dust?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" The girl looked annoyed. "They use the disintegrator beam on you."

"What?! Why would they do that?" Anna couldn't seem to wrap her mind around anything that was happening.

"It's entertainment!"

"Entertainment for what? The robots?"

"No! For the people on Earth."

"And where are we, exactly?"

"You don't even know that? You're on Satellite 5. Every room is broadcast live across the globe. Tens of thousands of them."

"Why would you participate on something like this?" The entire idea sounded absolutely ridiculous.

The girl was enraged by now. "You're saying like we have a choice. There _is_ no choice. Everyone on Earth is picked at random. When the transmitter gets you, you arrive here."

"And you cannot just leave?"

"Leave? You only get an early elimination."

Anna was speechless. There was no escape.

The minutes passed by slowly as contestant after contestant entered the room - some came back out, some didn't. Finally, it was the boy's turn. His name - Jamie – was the same as the boy in the 1940s. He went in, but several seconds later, he was running back out. "I can't do it!" he shouted. "I want to go home!"

Two security officers grabbed him and dragged him back.

Several of the contestants peeked in, curiously or perhaps out of sick fascination, as the rest clenched their eyes shut and prayed for the boy. Anna was amongst those curious, but as her curiosity was satiated, she could only feel the sinking dread.

They had two bright stones and pressed it into his eyes. He screamed and screamed, but no one helped him. No one thought it was anything out of the ordinary. Anna shifted to help him, but one of the girls held her back and shook her head.

Even after he was blinded, the judges asked him to sing. He tried. He tried with a watery squeak. In the end, he was but dust in the air.

Anna closed her eyes. "Why...?"

Too soon, it was her turn again. She returned into the room.

"Welcome back," Sharoid greeted. "What song are you going to sing for us, this time?"

With the rate this was going, she'd run out of songs before this thing is over. She gave them a name to one of the only few songs she knew.

She was not informed of whether she had passed or not this time, but was directed to leave the room. Anna made to ask the girl who brushed past her to perform her own song. By the end of the round, no one was eliminated. They weren't, however, relieved like Anna thought they were going to be, but she realized why when everyone was called back to stand in the room. "Rebecca, Jordan, Lisa, Carol, Dean, Sam, Robert, Anna, Crystal, George, please stand to the right side. You are Team A." Anna obliged, wondering what was happening. The girl was not with her. "Ash, Shane, Darrol, Michelle, Michael, Betty, Christa, Jesse, Mary, Henry, please stand to the left side. You are Team B"

"We have evaluated you all and deliberated," Simoid stated. "The team who qualifies for the next round is... TEAM A!"

For the first time, Anna saw the disintegrator. There were ten of them, all lined up and within a second, it was just ashes on the other side. The people from Team A let out a murmur of nervous laughter and hugged each other in relief.

"Leave the room, Round 3 will begin in five minutes," Sharoid informed.

They all filed out. There had to be a way to stop this. Where was the Doctor, Jack, and Rose? Were they alright?

"Congratulations on making it this far," Sharoid said. "Please state your song."

Anna let out a shaky breath. Song... Song...

"We don't have all day," Simoid growled.

"Scarborough Fair," Anna finally declared.

Like the previous round, everyone came out and were gathered again for the elimination.

"Anna, Lisa, George, Dean, Robert, please stand to the right. You are on Team A."

"Rebecca, Jordan, Sam, Crystal, Carol, please stand to the left. You are on Team B."

"The winning team is... TEAM A!"

Anna gave a small jump as five more people disappeared. Five people left.

"Please leave the room. The Final Round will start in five minutes."

Final Round... She, who had seem so many die. She was going to meet her own end in a _singing contest_. No matter how she thought about it, it was ridiculous.

Anna sung the final song that she knew. Eventually, she was going to have to start making them up.

"You are all gathered here to witness the winner of Season 97 of Tone Death."

Anna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. This was it.

"The winner of Season 97 of Tone Death is- ANNA!"

There was dust everywhere around her. "Congratulations. Please exit the room and take the elevator to Floor 105. The Bad Wolf Cooperation will be rewarding you, shortly." So this was it. Forty-nine people died just so the winner could be directed to another floor.

She made her way to the elevator, but instead of going to the designated location, she left for Floor 500, the very top. She wasn't going to continue listening to them. Perhaps the control room is there.

The elevator door opened and she found five pairs of eyes staring at her.

"Anna!" Jack shouted with a grin. He ran over to her and twirled her around. "You're alright! I told you we should've looked for her, too. You thought she was still sleeping in the TARDIS!"

Anna looked at the Doctor who was talking to another blonde. She could see the jealousy in Rose's eyes, but Anna couldn't blame her. The Doctor seemed to be leaving girls falling in love with him left and right.

"Anna, this is Lynda. Lynda, Anna," Jack introduced them. They gave each other an awkward wave. "Caught us just before we left."

"Where are you going, Jack?"

He gave her a sad smile. "We're going to war, angel. The Daleks are responsible for this. The disintegrator beam is actually a transporter beam. They take you to random points in the galaxy. Rose was taken into the Daleks' ship. _One_ of the Daleks' ships. There are thousands of them, so we've devised a plan. We're going to have lines of defense, trying to take them out as they come. I will be recruiting volunteers who are willing to fight with us. Once I've done that, I'm just going to be a few floors below you." He took her face into his hands.

"Jack..."

"Don't cry, angel. Know that whatever happens, you are worth fighting for. And the Doctor? Forget about him. Find a nice man. You don't need him." He kissed her tears away before reaching her lips. "Goodbye."

He walked up to Rose and the Doctor and also gave them a kiss on the lips. "Need to go," he said before flitting off.

"He's gonna be alright," Rose said, looking at the Doctor. "Isn't he?" She turned to Anna. "_Isn't he?_"

"Even I've heard of the Daleks, Rose," Anna said. "I thought they were wiped out from the mythical Time War, but... if they are here, now, the damage they can cause will be astronomical."

Rose had no other words to say and the three of them sat making small talk as the Doctor built the Delta wave. "Suppose... I mean, I know we can't, but... Suppose we could take the TARDIS and travel back to last week's morning?"

"The moment the TARDIS lands, it would be stuck in the timeline," he replied. "There's one other thing the TARDIS can do, we could leave. Let history take its course." No one believed that he would do that. "The delta wave started building," he said, looking at a screen. He rushed over to check another screen. Anna could see the hopelessness. She knew something was wrong, even though she held no knowledge of what he was doing.

Suddenly, he looked at Rose and kissed her on the forehead. "Rose Tyler, you're a genius! If I use the TARDIS to cross my own timeline. Yes!"

Anna stared at him. But he can't. Even she knew that that would cause a paradox in time. It was impossible. What was he playing at?

She watched him and Rose rush into the police box. "Are you coming?" Rose shouted out to her.

"Coming," Anna replied. She walked inside the TARDIS as the Doctor scurried around, talking nonsense. "Doctor, what are you doing? This is-"

"Not now." He rushed out.

"Doctor!" she shouted and was about to follow him, but the door closed and the TARDIS began to move. "No. No, no, no, no! Doctor! You can't do this! Doctor!"

"This is Emergency Program One." A hologram of the Doctor said. "Rose Tyler, Anna, listen. This is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing: we must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead, or about to die any second with no change of escape and that's okay. I hope it's a good death. But I promised Jackie that I would take care of you, Rose, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home and I bet the two of you are fussing and moaning now. Typical. But just hold on and listen a bit more.

"The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do: let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. And over the years the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." It turned to look at them. "Have a good life. Do that for me. Have a fantastic life."

Rose ran around the console, looking for a way to return. "Help me! There has to be a way to... to..."

"Rose," Anna started. "We can't help him as we are."

"Then we can at least go back and take him away."

"You know he would never leave," she tried to reason with the frantic blonde. "But we still have a little time to think of something."

"Like what?!" Rose shouted at her. "You're bloody useless! What about this Seraphixian business? You can't do anything!"

That stung. "Rose, you're not thinking clearly. We have to keep calm. We can't help the Doctor as we are. If we rush in without a plan, we'd be a burden and nothing more. Help me think of something and perhaps we can save them both."

They both felt the TARDIS land and knew that they were in London. Rose walked out of the time machine, looking at her homeland. "Rose, I am just going to stay in the TARDIS if you need me." She didn't receive a reply.

Anna sat on the jump seat, staring at the ceiling. Everything had gone wrong and even as his death neared, his only thought was Rose. Had to take her to safety. Ended up in London. How was she going to get back to _her_ home? They were several years into her own past, so she couldn't return. Not that she could with no money. They were a bit old, but what was wrong with her francs? It's not as if age mattered. It's real silver!

"I cannot start thinking like this," Anna whispered to herself. "We can still save the Doctor. We can still save the Doctor."

She felt a warm nudge in her head. Anna gasped at the sensation.

'_Do… ot…ret…_

She frowned. Who was trying to talk to her?

"_T…IS…"_

"Are you the TARDIS?" she called out in disbelief. Wasn't this only a time machine? How was it talking to her? "How can I help the Doctor?" Another warm, gentle nudge hit her, but she received no verbal reply.

Anna took a step outside to clear her mind. The sun was shining. There was no hint of an incoming apocalypse happening millions of years from now. She wandered off down the streets, weaving through throngs of people. Minutes became an hour and soon, she was tired of walking. She sat down on the ledge of a wall in the middle of an empty lot. "Fresh air... What good is that doing me? What good am I if I am just sitting here staring at a..." Her eyes widened.

Bad Wolf. It was written everywhere. It couldn't possibly be chance that they had just been involved with the Bad Wolf Cooperation. There were no such coincidences with the Doctor.

She ran back into the TARDIS and began to hit random buttons. "Come on. I know there is something here. Something I am still missing. Something to link it all together. Help me, TARDIS!"

The TARDIS let out a sound of discordance.

"No! I am so close, I can almost taste it. I just need..."

"Anna? I think there's is something going on here," she heard Rose say from behind her. A dark-skinned man was behind her. "Oh, and this is Mickey. Mickey, Anna." He gave her a small wave.

"Rose. The writings. _Bad Wolf_."

"You saw it, too! It's not just me. See, Mickey! Not just graffiti on the wall. It's everywhere and it has been following us around."

"It was also on the church walls back in Paris... It has to mean something."

"The Doctor said that the TARDIS is psychic. What if we opened it? Get to the heart. Then it'll listen to us!"

'_No!'_ Anna winced. That message was loud and clear.

"Rose. We shouldn't," Anna relayed. "The TARDIS said-" But she wasn't listening anymore.

"Mickey, come on. Give me a hand."

The duo attached a long chain onto the cover of the TARDIS and a small black car. It was useless. The engine wasn't strong enough. They sat silently, helplessly, until the sound of a large truck stopped by.

Rose rushed out and saw a large yellow Rescue truck. They attached the chains and started, again.

The TARDIS had grown silent in her head. She didn't know what to do.

"Almost there, Mickey!" Anna looked up to see the cover fly off and paled. Gold tendrils surrounded Rose. The time vortex? Is that the heart of the TARDIS?

Anna ran to Rose and tried to pull the blonde away, but she wouldn't budge. "Rose! Stop _looking_!" The two tumbled to the ground, but it was already too late. The TARDIS had already started moving and Rose was glowing. "Rose...? Rose, are you alright?"

The blonde turned to look at her. "I can see everything," she whispered. "Everything... But my head hurts..."

Anna realized that there was no other choice. "TARDIS, I need your help. I need you to form a connection between Rose and I."

There was no reply from the TARDIS.

"You know he loves her. You know he would've done anything for her. Don't let this be the end."

Anna waited for the TARDIS to see reason. It was all for the Doctor's happiness, surely it wouldn't object to that?

There was a tingling sensation in her head and her vision became skewed. It felt as if she was seeing through Rose's eyes for a moment.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Rose. Rose, look at me. I need you to just relax, as much as you can. Do that for me and I can take your pain away." Anna was scared. She was very scared. She didn't want to die, yet, but it was for the Doctor. It seemed that every adventure they had ultimately leaved her in a dying situation. "Now, take a deep breath." She held Rose close, until their lips were touching. Grey eyes looked into glowing gold. There was a jolt and she could feel it, rushing inside her - through her eyes and mouth. The time vortex felt so cold, it burned, yet it felt like nothing at all.

When Rose collapsed to the ground, Anna finally realized what the girl was truly feeling. There was so much. She could see everything - every particle dancing in the air. So much knowledge… She knew how to use form objects with the atoms around her, she knew the inner workings of the TARDIS… she knew how to use it!

The TARDIS landed and Anna walked out.

"What is this abomination?" a robotic voice asked.

"What have you done...?" she heard the Doctor whisper.

There were Daleks everywhere, they surrounded him. The defense was broken; she knew that everyone had died.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead us here."

"Anna, you've got to stop this! You've got to stop this, now! You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn."

"I will protect you from the false god, Doctor."

"**You cannot hurt me. I am immortal,"** the Dalek on an enormous screen announced.

"You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence. And I divide them." The first of many Daleks burst into dust. "Everything must come to death. Al things. Everything dies. The Time War ends." She manipulated every atom that made up the Daleks and their ships, but remained standing with the power flowing through her.

"They're gone, Anna. Let it go," the Doctor urged. "Stop this. It'll kill you if you don't let it go."

Anna shook her head, golden tears falling from her eyes. "I cannot, Doctor," she whispered. "If I let go, it will go back to her."

The Doctor did not understand who _her_ was and thought it was the TARDIS. "That's good.. Give it back to her."

"No," she shook her head. "If I do, she will die."

"Who will die?" Cold realization hit the Doctor when he realized that it was not the TARDIS she was talking about. The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. "No... No..."

"Tell her, Doctor. She loves you," she continued. "Do not let it be too late. Do not let it be too late. She- I… Doctor..." Anna held her head. "It hurts. Everything hurts…"

A chill went through his body. What if it was already too late? "No." He stood up from his position on the floor. "I won't let it be too late," he declared. "Come here." He gathered her into his arms. "I'm not going to let you go without a fight."

Anna could see what the Doctor was doing and pushed him away. "You cannot. It will kill you. I cannot lose you, Doctor, especially knowing that I would be the cause."

"No, I can come back if I die," the Doctor said. "Well, not quite like this, but I'd still be the Doctor."

"What are...?" She paused, feeling the vortex's knowledge flow inside her. "Time Lord..."

"Yes!" The Doctor grinned. "Yes, now come here, Anna. You've been brilliant. Absolutely fantastic!"

"Doctor..."

"Shh... Shh..." He wiped away her tears. "Let this Doctor kiss away all the pain."

Anna's heart soared as she felt those lips on her, once more. It felt like her entire body was engulf in a different type of fire - a good burn. His hands were tangled in her hair, slowly travelling down her neck, to the side of her body, and rested on the small of her back.

He broke away as he felt her body go limp and carried her to the jump seat that seemed to be a permanent spot for her. He spotted Rose on the floor of the TARDIS, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Rose Tyler, the girl who found her way into the heart of the TARDIS." she heard the Doctor voice in the darkness. "There are so many place I wanted to take you."

The blonde sat up, rubbing her head. "Why can't you?"

"Well... You will. Maybe I will, too. And Anna... But not like this. I might be completely different - two heads, eight eyes, an arm on my head. Who knows?" The Doctor caught the gold streaming through his veins. "We could've gone to Barcelona. Not the city, mind you. The _planet_."

"Barcelona?" they heard another voice slur. "Can I go to Barcelona?"

The Doctor burst out laughing. Anna's hair was mussed because of him. "Oh, yes. Perhaps. No, we will, but I'll just be a tad bit different - maybe a lot bit different."

"Why?" Anna whispered. "I like this Doctor."

"Well, it's just the wa-" He keeled over, gasping, before jerking back up. "Before I go, just wanted to tell you two, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic! And you know what? So was I!"

The girls couldn't help but le tout a small laugh, until the Doctor started gasping in pain, again.

"Doctor?" Rose shouted.

"I'll be alright, just stand back!"

Anna's eyes widened as she remembered those same gold tendrils in Rose, in her. The Doctor must've absorbed it, to save her. _Her_ - an insignificant being who wasted the last two hundred years of her life.

Her grey eyes stared at the transformation. His hair began to change, more of it. His face was different - younger. His body was skinnier, drowning in the clothes. "Well, hello!" he greeted, then cleared his throat. "Oh, new teeth. Feels weird - feels good. New voice. Not bad. So where was I? Oh, that's right, Barcelona!"

He tampered with the controls as the Doctor would and turned to the two women who were looking at him oddly. "What do I look like?" The grin on his face was much different than the one they were used to, but Anna felt like she liked this one more. His grin was much friendlier, albeit a bit… crazy looking. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Don't tell me.

"Let's see… Two legs. Two arms. Two hands." He rotated his left wrist, experimentally. "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle." His hands flew to his head. "Hair! I've got hair! I'm not bald, that's good." If it was possible, his grin widened. "Oh! Oh… Big hair! And sideburns! I've got sideburns! Or… really bad skin." He moved around a little more. "Little bit thinner. That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it." His movement became odd as he wiggled about in place. "I… have got… a mole. I can feel it."

Anna stared at the Doctor in shock. He was very different. Not only in appearance, but also in mannerism. It was as if he was a completely different person. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Rose was just as surprised as she was. No, her expression was slightly different. She looked… scared?

Completely oblivious to their inner turmoil, the Doctor continued on with his self-inspection. "Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's right. Love the mole." He finally looked up. "Go on then, tell me." He straightened his back and turned to Rose. "What do you think?"

Instead of her usual excitement when she speaks to the Doctor, Rose sounded rather shy. "Who are you?"

The grin immediately faded from the Doctor's face. "I'm the Doctor."

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "No, where is he? Where's the Doctor?"

"Rose, he is-" Anna tried to intercept, but the other blonde was near a panic attack.

"What have you done to him?!"

"You saw me, I… I changed right in front of you."

Rose shook her head, again. "I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a… a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something."

"Rose, that's the Doctor," Anna whispered. "He changed. He's an alien." She could see it. He still glowed the way he used to – all sorts of rainbow colours. No one else could be like him.

Rose ignored her. "You're not fooling me." She gave the Doctor a push. "I've seen all sorts of things. Nano genes… Gelth… Slitheen…" The Doctor raised his eyebrow, incredulous by Rose's leap in logic, but it only seemed to fuel her suspicion. "Oh, my God! Are you a Slitheen? Send him back. I'm warning you. Send the Doctor back, right now!"

With an almost desperate look, he turned to Anna to help him, but he only saw her trying to stifle her laugher. After getting over the shock, it was amusing to see him struggle like this. Killer angels, he's fine. Nano genes, he worked out a happy ending. Murderous reality television shows, no problem. Daleks, survived. An out-of-control Rose? Completely and utterly helpless.

Seeing that Anna would be no help, the Doctor turned to Rose, once more. "Rose, it's me. I was dying. To save my own life, I changed my body. Every single cell, but… it's still me."

Rose wanted to believe him, but it was too unreal. "You can't be."

Slowly, the Doctor approached her, looked into those accusing brown eyes. "Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies… Oh… such a long time ago. I took your hand." He slowly touched her shaking hands and held them in his. He leaned down. "I said one word… just one word, I said… _run."_

Anna looked away. The atmosphere changed and it felt as if she was intruding on two lovers sharing their words of love to each other. Slowly, she backed away and went up the stairs to give the couple some privacy.

Unbeknownst to her, the Doctor _did_ notice when she left, but since Rose was the skeptical one, he had to stay to convince her. It made him sad that she walked away without saying anything to him. He wondered if maybe she hated the new him? Was there something wrong with the new him? Maybe he was really ugly. Was he ginger? He tugged at his hair to catch a glimpse of it, but it was too short. Maybe it was something else. She looked so… lonely.

"Doctor," Rose whispered, bringing him back to the woman in front of him.

He grinned at her. "Hello." Maybe things were going to go back to normal, now. As normal as before, at least. "And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running. One time, we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He began to commandeer the TARDIS, again. "Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the…" He began to hop on one foot, as if to show her what hopping was. With the lack of noise, he looked back to Rose who was leaning against a pillar, looking unimpressed and still disappointed. "…No…?"

"Can you change back?"

He froze. That was not what he had expected. Did it matter what he looked like? He was still the Doctor. He still had every memory of them being together. So why would it matter? "Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…"

"Can you?" Rose looked at him, hopefully.

"No." He fiddled with the knob in front of him. "Do you want to leave?"

It was Rose's time to freeze. Had she given him the wrong impression? "Do you want me to leave?" Had she offended the Doctor? It was just so much to take in. How did he expect her to react when everything about him looked different?!

"No!" the Doctor quickly replied. "But… your choice… If you want to go home…" He thought he'd feel more disappointed at the thought, but… maybe he was just being selfish all this time. Maybe he just wanted someone… Anyone… Was he questioning his feelings for Rose? This incarnation had so many questions. So many questions. "Alright!" He snapped himself back to reality. "Cancel Barcelona. Change to… London. The Powel Estate. Ah… Let's say the twenty-fourth of December." He looked at her. "Consider it a Christmas present."

The TARDIS began to move, once more.

"I'm going home?"

"Up to you. Back to your mum," he stated. "It's all waiting for you. Fish and chips; sausage and mash; beans on toast. No! Christmas – turkey! Although, having met your mother… nut loaf would be more appropriate." He glanced at Rose, finally seeing a small smile appearing on her face. "Was that a smile?"

"No." She shook her head.

"You smiiiiled!" he sung back to her.

"No, I didn't." She looked away.

"Oh, come on. All I did was change, I didn't-" Suddenly, he bent over and began to gag. The TARDIS reacted to his abrupt change in status and gave a violent shudder. It stabilized once more as he did.

"What?" Rose looked at him with concern, wondering what was wrong with him.

"I said, I didn't-" He gave another gag and nearly tumbled to the floor. "Uh oh…"

Rose began to walk towards him. "Are you alright…?"

He was silent for a moment before burping out a stream of gold.

"What's that?"

"Oh, the change is going a bit wrong and all…" He frowned as he watched the gold fade into the atmosphere, but fell to his knees as a more powerful force of pain hit him.

"Doctor?!" Anna ran out from the corridor and saw him convulsing on the TARDIS floor. She took her first step before nearly falling the rest of the way as the time machine twirled and crashed. Carefully, she managed to scoot to the bottom of the step and crawl towards him. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

He scrunched up his face before looking at her. "Regeneration going a tad bit wrong."

"Look, maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do."

The Doctor groaned. "Gah! He's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth!" Slowly, he got to his feet and leaned against the console. "I haven't used this one in years." He flicked the switch and the shaking became more violent. The two companions tumbled about, trying to keep their balance.

"What are you doing?!" Rose shouted.

Whatever mood the Doctor was in, it was surely inconsistent. "Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" The maniacal grin was back on his face. He flicked, pushed, and turned a few more switches. "Faster! Wanna break the time limit?!"

"Stop it!" Rose urged, feeling a bout of motion sickness hit her.

"Ah, don't be so dull!" he snapped. "Let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!"

"Doctor! Please!" Anna pleaded, trying to nurse a bruised knee as she clung desperately to a pillar.

He looked at her and seemed to turn back to his old self. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself. My head…" He clenched his eyes shut, bending over, but quickly jerked back up. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

The alarms in the TARDIS began to ring.

"What's that?" Rose looked around, wondering if this was the end.

"We're gonna crash land!" He laughed.

"Well then, do something!" Rose shouted.

"Too late! Out of control! Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!"

"You're gonna kill us!"

"Hold on tight, here we go!"

The Doctor gave them one last grin before one final tremour shook the TARDIS and quieted down. "Christmas Eve!"

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

I'm not a huge fan of original characters taking the place of canon characters completely, like how I made Anna part of the Bad Wolf, but I felt like it's a step towards how they feel about each other. I also wanted to establish Rose's relationship with the Doctor. While I was watching Doctor Who, I've always supported Rose and the Doctor together and I still do, so it's hard to just get rid of her in my story.

Aaand I'm uploading on my phone in a restaurant. I was going to update in the morning before I leave, but I completely ran out of time and had to run. I'll be updating again on Christmas. Going on vacation to the United States. I'm so excited!

As per usual, constructive criticism is welcome, as well as general comments and questions about this story.

S.A.K.


	5. The First Christmas

**CHAPTER FIVE: THE FIRST CHRISTMAS**

As the Doctor stumbled out in a drunken stupor, the girls looked at each other before walking out to where the Doctor was now on the ground with a man and woman beside him. "What happened? Is he alright?" Rose knelt down.

"Who is this, Rose?" the blonde woman asked her. "Where's the Doctor?"

"That is the Doctor," Anna answered.

"What?" The woman turned to her before sizing her up and down. "Who are you?"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Anna sat beside him, absentmindedly stroking his hair. He had been unconscious for a while, now.

Jackie Tyler walked into the room with a stethoscope in her hand. "I think he should take him to the hospital."

Anna shook her head. "We cannot. He has different organs than humans. Certain medication might work negatively for him. We cannot risk it." She looked up as Rose came in and took the stethoscope from her mother.

Hesitantly, Rose listened to the left side of his chest, and then moved to the right. "Alright, he's fine."

"Why did you do that?"

"He has two hearts."

"What?" Jackie looked back at the Doctor who looked completely human. "What else has he got two of?" Anna looked down and blushed

Rose stood up and began to walk away. "Leave him alone."

Anna watched, surprised that Rose had left her alone with him, but was nonetheless grateful. "Doctor, wake up soon." She placed her forehead on to his. "Even with this new face, new voice, new personality, it doesn't feel any different for me. I miss you." She shifted to lie down beside him and watched as a stream of the time vortex floated out and up into the air.

"You know, without you, things will quickly get out of hand. Or maybe… It is because of you. Somehow, you always end up at the heart of everything that goes wrong." She took in his scent. "Stupid man, making me fall in love with you."

Slowly, she began to doze off when she heard a loud racket from just outside the door. "Rose?!" She scrambled out of bed and was about to leave when they rushed in and locked the door behind them. "Mickey. Jackie. What is happening?" she asked as the two moved the wardrobe to block the door.

"The- The- The Christmas tree!" They moved away as the wardrobe shook.

"Doctor, wake up!" Rose shook him, but he remained in his comatose state.

Just then, the tree burst through. "Stand back!" Anna pushed them back. She closed her eyes and tried to pull out the magic from within her, but realized that it wasn't coming out like it used to. There was resistance. With great difficulty, she managed to produce a small burst of blue energy that only stopped it for a second.

"Was that it?" Jackie shouted. "Aren't aliens supposed to be great?"

Anna rubbed her head in pain. "That was not supposed to happen…"

"I'm going to be killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie squealed in fear as it moved closer to them.

In desperation, Rose leaned down to the Doctor's ears and whispered two words. "Help me…"

Immediately, the Doctor sprung up and used the sonic screwdriver on the tree. Anna pursed her lips and tried to fight down the jealousy. He had reacted just from Rose being in trouble. Would he have done the same for her?

"Remote control," he explained. "But who's controlling it?" Slowly, he got out of bed and walked over to the balcony, looking at the three mechanical Santa Clauses standing below them. With a threatening raise of his sonic screwdriver, the Santas teleported away. "Pilot fish."

Anna looked at her hands, curiously and tried to summon the power, again. Like before, it took her much more effort than usual to emit even a fraction of the energy she once had. It also brought back the pounding headache.

, the Doctor collapsed, gasping for air.

"What's wrong?!" Rose exclaimed, holding him close.

"You woke me up too soon," he panted. "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy." The gold stream of the time vortex floated into the atmosphere. "You see? The Pilot Fish could smell it a million miles away, so they eliminate the defense – that's you lot – and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of year-" He keeled over, again. "My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need-"

Jackie kneeled beside him in a fit of panic. "What do you need?"

"I need-"

"Say it. Tell me. Tell me-"

"I need-"

"Painkillers?"

"I need-"

"Do you need aspirin?"

"I need-"

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know… Pepto-Bismol?"

"I need-"

"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"

"I need-"

"Is it food?! Something simple? Uh… a bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"

"I need you to shut up," the Doctor finally snapped.

"Oh, he hasn't changed much, has he?"

He jolted, again. "We haven't got much time. If there's Pilot Fish, then-" He frowned as he took out an apple from his dressing gown. "Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"

"Oh, that's Howard, sorry."

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

The Doctor looked at the apple in his hand, once more. "What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"

"Sometimes."

Despite hating the fact that the Doctor was in pain, Anna couldn't help but let out a laugh at their antics. They all looked at her, making her blush. "Sorry, it's just…" She looked away, the blush deepening. "Sorry…"

The Doctor began to smile, but grimaced as another burst of pain hit him. "Brain… collapsing…" He grabs Rose's arm. "P-Pilot Fish. The Pilot Fish mean… that something… something… something's coming." He finally fell back unconscious on to Rose's lap.

Looking away from the scene before her, Anna decided to return to the TARDIS. At least there, she wouldn't feel so… alien. They already looked like a happy family and her? She was the intruder.

Even with Mickey, who was supposedly Rose's boyfriend, it looked natural – like they belong together. She wondered what Mickey must feel. Did he see the same connection between the Doctor and Rose as she did? Did he feel jealous like she did?

All these strange emotions. They overwhelmed her. They felt so… so… ugly. No, that wasn't right. She loved feeling happiness. Happiness was beautiful. She loved having a preference – did she like purple more or blue? But when she sees Rose and the Doctor together, that ugly feeling comes back. That ugly, ugly jealously. It disgusted her. It frightened her. There was a part of her that would wish harm to a girl who had been nothing but kind to her. How could the Doctor possibly like someone as ugly as her?

She fiddled with her fingers absentmindedly and began to pull at the thread coming out of the jump seat. How _did_ the Doctor see her? Was she just another burden to him? At times, he was extremely affectionate, but during other times, he'd ignore her for days. It drove her crazy. "Stop playing with my feelings," she whispered. "Just tell me if you do not like me. Do not make me so confused…"

As unwanted tears trickled down her face, Anna rested her face on her arms and began to sob. She was having an emotional overload. She was happy that he let her stay, but she didn't want to watch the two of them together. And Jack…

The poor man died protecting them and no one would ever know. Jack understood her. Jack comforted her. Jack made her happy. If they had more time together, perhaps things would've been different. Maybe she would come to love him. Regret.

Regret and sadness were ugly, too. It made her heart feel like it was being clenched by an iron fist. It put her into a mood that made her feel as if nothing was worth living for. She could only cry harder as she wallowed in her self-pity.

Suddenly, the TARDIS doors slammed open. Anna quickly wiped away her tears and stood up as Mickey and Rose carried the Doctor in. They laid him on the floor and began to converse quickly to themselves.

She saw Jackie follow them with several shopping bags in hand.

"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey inquired, looking curiously at the console.

"I can if you want," Anna mumbled. "I still remember." And she did. The Seraphixian side of her must've just been enough for her to maintain the memory during that time.

Jackie placed a thermal on the console and left to get more bags.

"No, I think I can handle it," Rose replied, pressing a couple of buttons with Mickey beside her doing the same. Not long after, the TARDIS became to beep continuously.

Anna froze. There was none of the usual noise or rumbling that came with moving the TARDIS, but she could feel that it had, indeed, been relocated. Could it have been because they had somehow managed to move using the console or was something else doing this?

Rose laughed at something Mickey said and began to open the door.

"Wait!" Anna cried out, but it was too late.

They stepped out and immediately, Rose let out a scream.

Mickey reacted hastily, dropping the thermal, he had been opening and ran out after her. "Rose?!"

Anna took a minute to contemplate before slowly peeking out.

Sycorax…

This was not the first time she had met them, but during their previous encounter, she was much more prepared with William by her side.

She looked at Rose, then back at the Doctor. He wouldn't want her to be hurt. She took a deep breath stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"Seize her, as well!"

Two of the Sycorax took her arms, but she didn't struggle. The Doctor was going to wake up, soon. She just needed to stall. As she was preparing to draw attention to herself, an older-looking woman stumbled towards them.

"Harriet!" Rose exclaimed in surprise.

"Rose," the woman greeted back, hugging the blonde. "Rose, I've got you. My Lord. My precious thing. The Doctor, is he with you?"

"No, we're all on our own."

Anna shook her head in disagreement. "The Doctor will come. He's merely resting."

Harriet Jones looked at the strange woman in front of her. The platinum blonde held herself in a way that was quite peculiar. "I am Harriet Jones, Prime Minister. You are?"

"Anna," she replied.

"The yellow girl," Harriet Jones' translator, Alex started. "She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet."

"But she doesn't," Harriet spoke up.

"Yeah, I can." Rose was certain that she'd be able to do it. If she was able to successfully negotiate with the Sycorax, then she can prove to the Doctor that she wasn't just a companion. She could be just as brilliant as him! "Someone's gotta be the Doctor."

"They'll kill you," Harriet tried to reason with her.

Rose shook her off. "Never stopped him." She took several steps towards the Sycorax leader. "I… um… I address the Sycorax according to… article fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to leave this world with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius, and… um… the Gelth Confederacy." The leader began to walk towards her, but she continued on. "A-As uh… sanctioned… by the Mighty Jagrafess… and… Oh, the Daleks! Now, leave this planet in peace! In peace…"

It started out splendidly, even Anna was impressed by how composed Rose sounded. When it progressed, however, Anna grimaced. It was obvious that the other blonde was just string alien words that she knew together.

There was a moment of silence before all the Sycorax burst out laughing.

"You are very, very funny," Alex translated. "And now, you're going to die."

"Leave her alone!" Harriet Jones pushed Rose back and put herself in front.

"_Wait!"_ Anna shouted at the last moment. Everyone turned to her. "_If you leave them alone, I can help you navigate the TARDIS." _

Alex translated after her.

"D-do you speak their language?" Harriet gaped at her.

"It was… required of me to know many different languages."

"_Human girl, you speak our language. Where have you learned it?"_

_"I am a Seraphixian," _Anna corrected him. "_We have much time and I had an extensive library."_

_"You will use that blue box to do our bidding."_ The leader strode towards her. "_Soon, your world will be gutted _and your people enslaved."

Alex stopped translating. "Hold on, that's English!"

"He's speaking in English," Harriet confirmed.

"You're speaking in English," repeated Rose.

"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!"

"That's English!" Rose pointed at him. "Can you hear English?"

"I speak only Sycoraxic!" the leader exclaimed, preposterous at the fact that the tiny humans were accusing him of speaking their filthy tongue.

"If I can hear English… then it's being translated, which means… it's working. Which means…" Rose and everyone else turned towards the TARDIS. The wooden blue doors opened and out came the Doctor, smiling in his pajamas and dressing gown.

"Did you miss me?"

Anna smiled in relief. As much as she was comfortable speaking the language, she was in no way capable of negotiating with them.

The Sycorax Leader roared and cracked his whip towards the Doctor. Reacting quickly, the Doctor grabbed it and pulled it out of the leader's hand. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy." He turned to Mickey. "Mickey! Hello!" Next, he addressed Harriet. "And Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North! Blimey, it's like "This is Your Life!"" As he turned to Rose, a large grin graced his lips. "Tea! That's all I needed! A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses…" Finally, he turned to Anna. "Oh, brilliant Anna. Had fun talking to the Sycorax?" Seriously, he leaned down close to her and whispered, "Now… first things first… Be honest. How do I look?"

"Different," she replied in the same whisper. "Good different."

"Oh, that's good." He ruffled his hair. "Am I… ginger?"

She squinted and tried to see even a glimpse of red. "No, just brown."

He turned away, looking like a small child not getting what he wanted. "Aww… I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger." Suddenly, he turned to Rose and pointed accusingly at her. "And you, Rose Tyler! Fat lot of good you were – you gave up on me… Oh… Oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."

Anna covered her eyes and tried not to laugh. She rather liked this Doctor.

"I'm sorry. Who is this?" Harriet Jones looked at the peculiar man in confusion.

"He's the Doctor," Rose answered her.

"But… what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?"

The Doctor walked over to her. "I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face… well, new everything." Seeing the Prime Minister's disbelief, he continued. "Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens – wasn't the war – it was the thought of your mother being on her own."

"Oh, my God…" Harriet gaped at him.

"Did you win the election?"

"Landslide majority," she smiled, smugly.

"If I might interrupt!" The Sycorax leader looked at the pair in irritation. How dare they ignore him to speak of something so trivial? "I demand to know who you are!" he roared at the Doctor.

In the same manner, the Doctor roared back. "I DON'T KNOW!" He rotated his shoulder and relaxed, again. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I-I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested." He turned to look at the humans. "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" He turned to Rose and winked. "Sexy?" She giggled back at him. "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob."

He caught sight of a particular button. "And how am I gonna react when I see this?" He points to the object of his interest. "A great big threatening button, which must not be pressed under any circumstances… Am I right? Let me guess, it's some sort of control matrix? Hm? Hold on, what's feeding it?"

He observes the button and noticed red liquid beside it. "And what've we got there? Blood?" Ignoring all procedures of sanitation, he dipped a finger into the liquid and licked it. "Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood – A positive with just a dash of iron." After his statement, he waggled his tongue in disgust, trying to get rid of taste. "Ahh… But that means… blood control. Blood control! Oh! I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A Positives!

"This leaves us with a great problem, 'cause… I really don't know who I am. I don't' know when to stop, so if I see a great big threatening button, which should never ever be pressed… then I just wanna do this!" Without a second thought, he slammed his hand on to the button.

In alarm, Harriet Jones let out a horrified exclamation, "No! You're killed them!" She made to express her anger unto the Doctor, but Anna held her back and shook her head. The Doctor wouldn't do anything to harm the human race. From what she had seen, he loved them too much.

"What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?" The Doctor had a smug look on his face.

Trying to preserve what little dignity they had left, the leader spoke. "We allow them to live."

"Allow?" the Doctor scoffed. "You've no choice! I mean, that's all blood control is – cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis – you can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct's too strong."

"Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force."

"Well, yeah. You could, yeah. You could. Of course, you could, but why? Look at these people." He gestured to the humans still in their presence. "These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than – no, hold on…" He frowned. "Sorry, that's 'The Lion King,' but the point still stands. Leave them alone!"

"Or what?" The Sycorax leader wondered what the strange human-like alien was going to do. What _could_ he do?

"Or…"

Anna watched as the Doctor snatched a sword from one of the Sycorax and brandished it in front of him, testing it. Was he really going to fight? The Doctor she knew would rather run and lead them away, but was this incarnation so different as to resort to killing all the Sycorax on this ship? "Doctor…" She took a step towards him. There was a part of her who also missed the old Doctor and she wanted to preserve what little she could.

"I challenge you," he stated before turning around to wink at her. The Sycorax burst out laughing, but the Doctor continued. "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"

The leader, certain that the frail-looking man would never be able to harm him, accepted the challenge. "For the planet?"

"For the planet," the Doctor agreed.

They circled each other, looking for any openings. The leader made the first move, he swung his sword at the Doctor who quickly leapt away. Unfortunately, several seconds later, he was thrown to the side. The Sycorax Leader took advantage of the opening and swung again, but the Doctor rolled away. Eventually, the Doctor led them upstairs and outside to the deck of the spaceship.

Anna followed, watching with bated breath. She knew there was nothing she could do, but every time the Sycorax advanced, her fingers twitched. There was nothing she wished more at that point than to help him.

Beside her, Rose was just as anxious. She took a step forward, unable to watch idly any longer as the leader swiped at the Time Lord's nose, but was quickly stopped by the Doctor. "Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet."

The two fighters ran towards each other. Once again, the Doctor was thrown back and with a fierce strike, the Sycorax leader sliced the Time Lord's hand clean off. It fell down the spaceship, along with the Doctor's only weapon.

Anna's heart skipped a beat. No, this couldn't be it. The Doctor just came back from the dead – nearly literally. It couldn't just end here.

Instead of looking horrified, the Doctor looked at his missing hand in stunned silence and annoyance. "You cut my hand off." He scrambled to his feet and grinned at the Sycorax leader who was celebrating the victory too early. "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky, 'cause quite by chance… I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy to do… this!" He held up his limb for everyone to see. The arm glowed and slowly, little by little, the hand grew back.

"Witchcraft!" the leader exclaimed.

The Doctor only grinned wider. "Time Lord."

With a swift motion, Rose swiped a nearby Sycorax's sword. "Doctor!" She threw it at the Doctor who caught it expertly with his new hand.

"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?"

Rose smiled at him. "No arguments from me!"

With renewed energy, the Doctor ran towards the leader. Within several minutes, he managed to jab his opponent's stomach. The Sycorax leader stumbled and the Doctor struck a second time, causing the invader to stumble to the floor. The Doctor pointed his sword at the Sycorax's throat. "I win."

"Then… kill me," the leader groaned out.

"I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command. Leave this planet and never return. What do you say?"

"Yes."

"Swear on the blood of your species." The Doctor glared at him.

"I… I swear."

"There we are, then!" It seemed that the Time Lord was back to his cheerful self. "Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!"

Rose rushed towards the Doctor in delight. "That says it all. Bravo!"

He grinned at her. "Yeah! Not bad for a man in his jim-jams!"

Anna was about to walk towards them when she noticed the Sycorax leader standing up and charged at the Doctor with his sword in hand. "No!" Instinctively, she flung out her hand and a burst of energy struck the leader, causing him to tumble over the side of the spaceship, to his death. Her heart was beating quickly, her eyes wide. What had she just done? She hadn't meant to kill him. She didn't want to kill anyone. Her knees knocked together and she fell to the floor.

With his smile gone, the Doctor rushed to Anna. "It's okay. It's okay," he comforted her. He took her into his arms and rocked her as she cried. "You saved us. He was going to attack and you saved us. If it hadn't been you, I would've done it. That's the sort of man I am. No second chances."

"I'm sorry." She sniffled. "I know how much you hate killing. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to!"

"I know. Shh…" He continued to comfort her. "Hmm… This seems to be the sort of man I am, too. The comforting kind. That's odd… Maybe it's a side effect from the regeneration cycle."

After a moment, he stood up with her still clutched close to him. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time and you when you go back to the stars, you will tell others of this planet. When you tell them of its riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It. Is. Defended." With that said, he ushered everyone into the TARDIS and materialised back to the ground.

Not long after, the spaceship hovered above them and flew into the sky. They cheered happily as the Sycorax began to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

"My Doctor," Harriet Jones spoke.

"Prime Minister," he replied.

They hugged in relief.

"Absolutely the same man," she exclaimed, fondly. "Are there many more out there?"

"Oh, not just Sycorax, hundreds of species – thousands of them – and the human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet is so noisy. You're getting noticed more and more. You'd better get used to it."

Just then, Jackie rushed over to them and hugged Rose. They smiled happily at the reunion, glad that nothing more had happened to them.

Unbeknownst to the happy group, Alex approached the Prime Minister and relayed the message he was receiving from his headset. "It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready."

With regret, Harriet Jones spoke the words that would determine her future. "Tell them to fire."

Anna gasped as four rays of green light struck the spaceship, destroying it. What had just happened? She knew they were to die soon, but with the results of the battle, she didn't think that it would be because of them.

Beside her, the Doctor stormed over to the Prime Minister. "That was murder."

"That was defense," came the quick reply. "It's adapted from alien technology – a ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."

With the fury of a Time Lord, the Doctor glared at her. "But they were leaving."

"You said yourself, Doctor. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today – Mr. Llewellyn and the Major were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."

Anna watched on with much sadness. Through watching the human race for centuries, she knew it was only human nature to react rashly, but it was all to protect what they held dear. She couldn't blame them for their natural instincts. If she were to do that, then what she had done to the leader would be no different.

Quietly, she slipped back into the TARDIS and rested on the jump seat, deep in thought. She knew she had to get rid of her insecurities soon. It hindered her greatly. What would Jack say if he was there with her? Would he comfort her as the Doctor had?

Jack…

* * *

Happy, Happy Christmas!

Updating from Las Vegas! So far, it's been very tiring, but also very exciting and fruitful! I don't have Hot Topic where I come from, so when I entered and the first thing I saw were Doctor Who merchandise, I completely freaked! I got myself a TARDIS tuque, a dalek dress, and a Doctor Who t-shirt. I was going to FINALLY get my tenth doctor screwdriver, but it was really expensive and it didn't look very nice because it doubled as a UV light, secret writing pen. Eventually, I'm going to get my screwdriver! I also nearly got a Batman backpack. It's so cute!

As per usual, constructive criticisms are welcome, as well as general comments and questions. Thank you to everyone who has favourited and/or followed this story. It makes me really happy that some people are willing to continue reading this.

I'll probably be uploading by New Years as well. See you soon!

S.A.K.


	6. The Metal Stars

**CHAPTER SIX: BARCELONA**

He's dead. Jack was dead. _They_ survived, so why was he dead? _Why was he dead?!_

She heard a knock on her door. "May I come in?"

"Yes."

The Doctor, in his new form, strolled in with his hands in his pocket. He had changed out of the leather attire and adorned himself with a pinstriped suit. "How are you feeling?"

"Did you know that you were going to regenerate... For certain?" Anna asked him.

"Of course," he answered. "Well... Maybe... Not for certain, but there was a high chance. Do you remember what happened?"

"Most of it," Anna answered. "I remember asking the TARDIS to create a psychic link between Rose and I, then there was a lot of pain. I walked out and saw you on the floor with the Daleks all around and I was so afraid - so afraid to lose you..." She placed her hands on her face. "I am always afraid. All these emotions inside me. I can't get them under control. They come out and I cry. I always cry."

She felt the bed sag to the side and warm arms enveloped her. "It's alright to feel. It's alright to be sad and cry as long as there's some happiness in there." He pulled her hands away and stretched her face into a maniacal smile. "There we go!"

Anna hit his hands away from her, rubbing the aching skin. "I know. I just need a little more time to adjust, but I will be fine."

"Good. Do you remember anything after that?"

"I remember taking them apart. I saw the ship in my mind as it dissolved into nothing. I remember trying my hardest to hold on, but then... I think I lost it... All I saw was darkness. I was so afraid that it had gone back into Rose, but when I heard her voice... You cannot believe how relieved I was until I realized you had taken it away."

"But here I am, now," the Doctor said, extending his arms outward. "Good and new."

Anna smiled. "Yes, good and new."

"Now, give me a smile or do you want these fingers on you, again?" She blushed, not answering. "Oh, you do, do you?" He began stretching her face, pinching it tightly. She tried to protest, but couldn't speak. "What are you saying? I can't hear you!"

Suddenly, they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. "Hello, Rose!" the Doctor greeted with his hands still occupied. "Look at this!" He squeezed Anna's face and tried to rearrange it.

Anna looked at Rose, watching the blonde's eyes darken. "Right, Doctor. Erm... I have something to ask you - in private."

The Doctor turned back to look at her. "Yeah, sure... Remember to smile, Anna, or the-"

"The _fingers_. I know," Anna said, watching the two leave. She sighed as the door closed itself. "Why would you risk losing everything? Should have left me there..."

"It's Rose that he cares about most. Rose only needs to ask and the Doctor will obey. I don't understand. It shouldn't matter, but it does. It makes me feel... feel..."

_Jealous._

Anna closed her eyes. "Jealousy... It has been so long since I have experienced that. Makes me feel so human."

_But you _are_ part human._

"It just... doesn't feel like it, sometimes. Other times, I just feel like a useless... useless _lump_."

"Are you taking about Ricky?" she heard the Doctor asked.

"Ricky?"

"Yeah, Rose's boyfriend."

"You mean _Mickey_?"

"No, Ricky."

"We were just with him," Anna argued. "It is Mickey."

"Are you sure?" He frowned at her.

She smiled at him. "Positive."

"Well... If you're positive..." He still looked confused, but was willing to let it go and gave her a loopy smile. "Get dressed. I've set the coordinates to Barcelona."

Anna hopped off the bed and went through the closet. She picked out a light blue dress before rushing into the bathroom to change. The dress clung loosely on her figure, she observed in the mirror. She looked at herself from different angles and noticed an odd glint in her eyes. It was small, but there were small gold veins mixed in with the silver of her eyes. It can't be, can it? She closed them and looked, again. Gone. Just a trick of the eye or reflection of the TARDIS lights.

"I am ready!" Anna burst out.

"Great! Off we go! Rose! Ready?!"

"Ready! Ready!" They heard the loud clicks of her shoes growing closer and closer.

Anna froze. "Is that my dress?"

"I thought it'd be alright. You did let me borrow one of your other dresses." Rose said, before turning to look at the Doctor. "Do you like it?"

The black-haired girl stood speechless.

"Looks good on you," the Doctor replied. "You should let her borrow your dress more often."

Not knowing what to say, she simply opened the door and walked out.

Everything was blue, except for the people. They were a dark shade of sea green with gold rings around their neck, wrists, and ankles. "Barcelonians! One of the most peaceful species in the universe."

"They can fly!" Rose exclaimed, spotting the floating humanoid figures.

"They are beautiful," Anna whispered.

"Thank you, kind Seraphim," one of the females said as she passed by.

The trio walked around with the Doctor taking the role as the tour guide. He led them to tall, breath-taking architectures and vast fountains. As the day drew old, he took them to his favourite restaurant in Barcelona and helped them order their food, which wasn't much help. He told them to just pick something at random and try it.

Anna had ordered 'K'Srasg' and Rose asked for the 'Jqrog.' The Doctor, however, was content with nothing, which made both females worry. When the dishes came, they were... alive? They moved around in the bowls, filled with purple liquid. "Eat up!" the Doctor said.

The girls looked at each other, mentally willing the other to go first. Anna took a deep breath and stuck her eating stick into the thing in front of her. Green fluid leaked out, mixing with the purple. She gagged. "Go on," the Doctor urged. "Not gonna kill you."

"I wonder about that," Anna muttered before closing her eyes and taking a bite out of the K'Srasg. "It tastes like chicken." She blinked.

Rose, finding out that the food wasn't that bad no matter how disgusting it looked, tried the Jqrog. "Mine is like beef!"

The Doctor laughed at them and took them out for a second round tour. They walked and walked, until they came across an unusual building. It wasn't blue like the rest of the architectures on Barcelona. No, it was shining silver - completely made of metal. "That's not right..." he muttered. "Wasn't here the last time I visited..."

He stopped a passing Barcelonian to question him, but he didn't know anything, neither did the ones after him. The building seemed to have popped out of nowhere, yet no one bothered to question its existence. "Now, why would that be...? Perhaps a perception filter?"

The doctor, not one to leave a mystery unsolved, entered the giant metal box with Rose and Anna following closely behind. The interior was nothing like any of them had expected. It was like a factory dealing with...

"Cows?!" The Doctor stared in disbelief. He ran around with his sonic screwdriver, checking every machinery and found that they all dealt with cataloguing, processing, and transporting of the cattle. There were even an instance where he poked one of the mammals to see if there was anything unusual, but was left disappointed and still clueless.

"What's wrong with cows, Doctor?" Rose asked with a frown on her face.

He turned to look at her. "What's wrong is that Barcelonians don't eat cows. They don't eat meat or anything solid, at all. They're atmovores. The air around them contains enough nutrients to sustain them for eons!"

"Well..." Rose started. "Maybe they decided to have a change of diet? I mean, they served meat in the diner we went into."

"No, no. That was for tourists like us."

They all looked around suspiciously. Whenever the Doctor was concerned, there was something wrong.

Anna wandered to one of the cows, which looked back at her with big, black eyes. "What could they be doing to you...?" she whispered.

It 'mooed' and nuzzled her hand affectionately.

"Oi!" she heard the Doctor shout out. "Do any of you honestly believe I will accept that NONE of you have ANY idea how this factory came to be?"

"I'm sorry, sir," one replied. "It appeared overnight. We know nothing."

"And you haven't bothered to ask questions or investigate?"

"It is not harming any of us, so we let it be."

The Doctor growled, tugging at his hair in frustration. "Not in any way that you _know_," he corrected. "Are none of you _curious_? He shouted, but had already lost their attention. "None of this is making any sense! A factory for processing cows appeared randomly in Barcelona, a planet of atmovores! Why? Who would build something so useless? Oh, but it can't be useless... they don't have steel in Barcelona. But this is steel," He gave the wall a lick. "Definitely steel. Alien technology to do what? Why here on this small little planet?"

"Doctor," Anna whispered. "Maybe you can ask them." She pointed at ten feet metal stars that had materialized into the building.

"Oh... hello..." the Doctor muttered. "Starglacians!

"Your planet is far, far away from here - in a different galaxy," the Doctor stated. "You are atmovores like the Barcelonians. Why would you- Oooh... methane gas... Your staple diet. But that still doesn't make any sense. Why here? Why go through all this trouble transporting cattle to this tiny planet?"

One of the Starglacians began to hum. Its language was lost to the two girls, but the Doctor understood it perfectly. "You didn't bring them here. How can that be? The Barcelonians have no need for methane gas. They thrive on the nitrogen in the air."

It continued to hum and the foreign language was starting to irritate the blonde who was looking back and forth at the two conversationalists. "Doctor, what is it saying."

"It's saying that the cows are native here," the Doctor said, without looking away. "But that can't be... The only planet I know that can produce cows is planet Earth... Even the Starglacians import them from there."

"Import?" Rose asked with skepticism. "Wouldn't people notice that their cows are missing?"

"Oh, they do. They do, but it's just rooted off as a miss count or a stray one finding its way out of the pasture. Some even justify it as wild animal attacks."

Anna strolled off into the deeper crevices of the factory, looking at all the modern technology that she had been ignorant to for the past two centuries. It was amazing. Numbers calculated itself. Metal arms moved with no strings attached, no manual labour. Was it just this world? No, she had recalled seeing many oddities of the like on Earth in her time. It was unfortunate that she never had the mind to explore during the innovations.

Her eyes continued to scan the room and automatically focused on a discoloured section in the wall. She walked closer and could feel tiny heat waves emitting from it. What could be behind those walls? There were no recollections of anything hot close by when the trio had given the exterior of the building a once over. On contrary, the other side was a beautiful lake.

She wanted to call for the Doctor, but he was still busy conversing with the metal stars, so she decided to explore it herself.

Her brain was telling her to stop advancing, but her curiosity begged to be satisfied. She was inches from the wall and lifted a hand to touch it. As her soft skin made contact with the metal, it immediately jerked back. Hot. _Very _hot. This time, she really was going to call the Doctor, but something happened that hindered her.

The section of the wall crumbled to the ground, leaving nothing but fine white powder on the metal flooring. Inside was a terrifying sight. There were dozens of Barcelonians on a conveyor belt. Their bodies were limp, but she could see their colours haven't faded completely - they were still alive.

Grey orbs followed the direction of the movement and stopped at a large platform, connected to another conveyor belt that transported cows to where all the other cattle remained. The inconsistency was not lost to Anna. Her eyes focused on the platform that had a device, similar to the disintegrator at Satellite 5. This beam, however, did not transport the Barcelonian. No, it _transformed_ them.

All the cattle that they had seen had been Barcelonians, but how could the others not know?

"Doctor!" Anna finally shouted, once she took her eyes off the process. "Doctor, there is something you should see!"

She heard two sets of footsteps echo towards her. "This can't be... Why are you doing this? How were you able to hide this from them?""

The anger in his eyes were evident. "Why do I care? Because this is a beautiful race that you are using as your methane gas producers!" He waited for the reply and received one.

"Useless? The Barcelonians are not _useless_!"

"They live in harmony with their planet!"

"It is not a farm land you can just reap for your own selfish reasons!"

"They may be a bit ignorant, but a perception filter stopped them from ever entering this place on their own. How did you lure them in?"

They all began to hum at the same time. "Oh ho! Hypnosis! Not going to work on me!" He pointed his screwdriver at the Starglacians, who all stopped. "You may be alive, but most of you is still machine."

"Now, answer my questions! Why did you come here? Why Barcelona - a tiny planet with a small population?"

"You think that no one will know that an entire species has been turned into cows? _I'll _know! You have more than enough on your own planet from taking and reproducing your own cows. Don't start wiping out species."

"One chance, Starglacians. I will give you one chance to revert them all back to their original forms. You don't want to see me angry. You _really_ don't want to see me angry!"

The metal stars refused to comply. The tips of their body glowed red and they began to spin in the air, but fell down seconds later, leaving large dents in the metal floor. "Remember, machines!" the Doctor said, holding up his sonic screwdriver.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

With no choice, the Starglacians reversed the process and left the planet. The Barcelonians who had been saved thanked the Doctor fervently and offered them their hospitality if ever needed. The doctor, in return, told them to live peacefully, but not ignorantly.

"Do _not_ let another species try to take you over!" were his finally words before he occupied his hands with a hand from Rose and another from Anna. "I thought that ended rather well!" he exclaimed with an enormous grin.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope all of you will have a great 365 days and I'll be here after to wish you another 365 days!

Thank you **beulah2013** for reviewing! You just made my day! _To answer your question, in Chapter 4, Anna did bring Jack back, but when she asked, she actually didn't know because parts of her memories are missing. I'm sorry that I wasn't more clear. I hope that answers your question._

As per usual, constructive criticisms are welcome, as long as general comments and questions!


	7. The Face

**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FACE**

"Where to?" Rose asked the Doctor as she followed him around the console.

"Where do you want to go?" the Doctor asked back.

"Well, I don't know." She had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Surprise me!"

He chuckled and turned to Anna who was spinning in the chair. "Where do you want to go?"

She continued to spin 'round and 'round and 'round. "Doesn't matter!" Her voice was slightly distorted by the velocity she was going at. "Anywhere!"

The Doctor walked up to the chair and stopped its motion, sending Anna sprawling on to the floor. "Did you accept anything funny from strangers?"

"Maybeeeeee," she slurred, a maniacal grin on her face. "Are you a funny stranger?"

"What? I only gave you coffee!"

"Coffeeeee!" she shouted. "Coffee tastes so good! I praise whoever invented COFFEE! Fetch me some more, Doctor!" She jumped on to the man's back, nearly sending them both tumbling to the floor. "Go! Princess Adreanna demands more coffee! Charge, my knight! Charge!"

The Doctor laughed and entertained her by galloping around the console room. "Where to, my princess?"

"Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!"

Instead of going into the kitchen, he took her into her room and dumped her into the bathtub. "Rain check!" he shouted, turning the shower-head on. She squirmed about, laughing and splashing water everywhere. "You're getting me wet!" he complained. "Naughty!"

They both froze. The word seemed to have triggered the same memory for both of them.

The Doctor cleared his throat and moved back, futilely trying to brush his suit dry. "Right, I will be... going back to... set the coordinates!"

Anna watched him zoom off with disappointment clearly in her eyes. "Coffee...?"

For the next few minutes, she leaned against the cold tiled wall and calmed herself down. This 'coffee' was deadly. It had mind controlling powers - made her do things that she would never normally do. No wonder she was never allowed any.

The TARDIS rumbled, causing water to slosh around. The Doctor must have finally figured out somewhere to go.

Anna tumbled out of the tub, stripped off the drenched clothes and got herself into another dress. This one was forest green with white lace on the edges of the collar and sleeves.

As she tried to navigate back into the console room, there were a few mishaps where the shaking made her lose her footing. Her finally trip was right through the threshold and into the console room.

"Nice of you to drop by!" the Doctor shouted with a light brown trench coat on, holding on to the metal panels with Rose across from him. "Will be there in a second!"

"Where are we going?" Anna asked, the exact same moment the TARDIS stopped.

He opened the door and beckoned them out. "Why don't you have a look."

They slipped out and noticed that it looked very much like Earth, except with a lot more machinery. There were flying vehicles everywhere, looming above their heads. The air held a sweet aroma that made Anna feel warm inside. The grass beneath them looked soft and bent under the breeze.

"So where are we?" Rose held her hair back from her face.

"It's the year five billion twenty-three, in the Galaxy M87, and this is New Earth," the Doctor stated with a satisfied smile on his face.

"It's beautiful. I love this," Rose grinned, widely, looping her arm around the Doctor's. "Can I just say travelling with you... I love it."

"Me, too."

Anna watched them looking at each other's eyes. She couldn't deny the chemistry between them. They looked as if they were made for each other.

The Doctor turned towards Anna, took her hand into his unoccupied one, and the three travellers ran across the field. They found a nice spot half a kilometre away with the TARDIS still in sight. He took his trench coat off and laid it on the grass. Rose sat on the left side of the Doctor with Anna on the right.

"So in the year five billion, the sun expands, and the Earth gets roasted," he informed Anna.

"That was our first date," Rose chirped.

"We had chips," he added.

Anna stared at them. Date? Date... She closed her eyes and thought back to the random information William would give her from time to time. A date was a meeting where people who like each other do something together. Her heart clenched as she remembered the kiss Rose and the Doctor had shared. Jealousy. She was feeling jealousy. The Doctor and Rose had so much history together, but her - Anna - and the Doctor had nothing.

"So what city are we in?"

"New New York."

"You're joking," Rose replied back.

"Well, technically it's the fifteen New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." Anna couldn't believe the Doctor had actually said that. "Don't look at me that way!" he exclaimed, noticing the odd expression on her face. "It _is_ New New New New Ne-"

Anna couldn't help but laugh. "Do not start, again, Doctor!"

He shrugged and laid himself on the grass.

"What is that smell?" Rose asked, taking a seat beside him, with Rose following suited.

With a pinch of two fingers and a swift tug, a few blades of grass came loose. "Apple grass," he said, waving the blades under Rose's nose, then Anna's.

"Apple grass!" Rose repeated, snatching the grass from the Doctor.

And just like that, they spent several moments just letting the peace soak in with small talk as a condiment.

Anna watched the blonde girl and the Doctor wrapped up in one of their past adventures involving Charles Dickens, and was about to put her head on the grass, but two warm hands took hold of it. She looked up at the Doctor from her position on his lap.

"Don't want to get that hair dirty," he said. "All long and curly."

Rose stared at the interaction and initiated another conversation with the Doctor about their trip where Earth was consumed by the Sun.

The Seraphixian didn't mind. She was _very_ content where she was.

While talking and laughing with Rose, his hand had absentmindedly wandered off to the tendrils, that almost looked silver in the sun, in his lap, stroking it until he noticed an odd sound being emitted. He looked down and realized that Anna was... purring? Was that normal for Seraphixians?

"Doctor?" Rose noticed that his attention was no longer on her. "Remember how the shields were rising and falling - playing with us?"

"Hmm?" He looked up, continuing to stroke her hair before running down the side to the ear. The purring grew louder. Was it bad that he enjoyed this? "Yeah. Annoying bugger it was!"

Anna opened her eyes as a strange noise irked her. She spied an odd mechanical spider near her feet. A mechanical _spider_. She sat up, hitting the surprised Doctor's head with her own, and fell back into his lap.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, turning his head left and right, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

"There was a spider!" Anna exclaimed.

Rose jumped to her feet. "Where?!"

The platinum blonde girl sat back up, careful to not collide with anything, looking for the offending creature. It was gone, but there was a pile of ashes in its place. "Must've... been a trick of the eye..."

The Doctor gave her a look and shrugged. Spiders come and spiders go. Nothing to worry about.

"So why here, Doctor?" Rose asked. "And where are we going to go?"

"I'd thought we'd go there first."

"Why? What is it?"

"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals."

He took out a wallet and opened it. The paper inside was flashing "WARD 26, PLEASE COME."

"What is that?" Anna peeked over.

"Psychic paper. Usually shows what I want people to see, but someone managed to find a way to contact me with it," he replied.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"I hate hospitals," the Doctor groaned, walking in.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that kind of ironic? You call yourself the Doctor and you hate hospitals."

He shrugged. "Can't help it."

They continued to walk towards the elevators until Rose was distracted by a matron who walked by. It was a humanoid feline. "They're cats," she said, pointing.

"Don't stare, it's rude!" the Doctor said. "Now come along." He entered the elevator with Anna right behind him. Rose turned made to catch up, but the door closed seconds before she could make it.

"Oh, there's another elevator!" Rose exclaimed.

"Be careful of the disinfectants," he shouted back, but the blonde didn't seem to hear him. "Be careful of the disinfectants!"

"What?!"

"Be careful of th- oh, never mind."

Anna tugged on his coat sleeve. "Disinfectant?"

"Yep!" he said, popping the 'p.' "Better keep that pretty mouth closed."

She blushed, but the blood rushed away when she became drenched. It was freezing!

A pair of hands began to massage her head, allowing the disinfectants to penetrate through the mounds of hair. She purred, happily, as the fingers danced around. Soon, a large breeze hit them.

"Oi!" she heard the Doctor exclaimed. "Too much hair!"

She laughed, shaking her head, irritating the man behind her as the hair tickled his face.

When the door slid open, they were both dried and content. "Wish it was a tad bit longer. Couldn't even get my own hair cleaned," the Doctor whined.

"I will return the favour next time, Doctor," Anna laughed.

He grinned at her. "I'll take you up on that."

They walked into the ward, searching for someone who might have called for the Doctor. Their eyes settled on a voluminous blue man who looked as if he was about to die. A woman with her blonde hair tied tightly back in a bun and black-framed glasses perched on her nose scolded them for looking at the man.

Anna and the Doctor shared an amused look. One of the caregivers, noticing the pair, walked over introducing herself as "Matron Casp" and asked who they were looking for. Neither of them could give her a reply until the Doctor spotted someone familiar. "I think I've found him," he said.

The Matron gave him an odd look before walking off.

The Doctor moved towards a large tank holding a large head.

"Who is that...?" Anna asked, feeling something odd tugging at her. The feeling was warm and came from the very depth of her body.

He knelt by the tank, delicately touching the glass. "The Face of Boe."

It emitted a tired sound, giving minimal movement.

"I'm afraid the Face of Boe is asleep." Another nurse came. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend?"

"Ah, we met just once on Platform One," he explained. "What's wrong with him?"

The nurse gave him a sorrowful look. "I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying... from old age. The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions. Although... that's impossible."

Anna tilted her head, looking at the colour above the tank. It made absolutely no sense. Colour was already black – perhaps it had been like that for millions of years. He should've already been dead. Jamie, the small child, was the only other person she has seen with a similar scenario.

"Oh, I don't know. I like impossible," the Doctor said to the matron before turning to the Face of Boe. "I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me. It's the Doctor."

The feline nurse continued with the information. "Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the Universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret. That he will speak those words only to one like himself. But of course, it's just a story."

"Tell me the rest," he urged the nurse who looked ashamed at herself for getting caught up in the narration.

"It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely god," she finished.

The Doctor gave the Face of Boe a long stare. "But that's me... I'm here... What is it that you need to say to me?" he whispered, but received no reply. He turned to Anna. "Stay here for a moment, I'm going to see where Rose has wandered off this time. What is with humans and getting into trouble at the most unlikely places?"

"You seem to be getting into trouble quite often as well, Doctor," Anna retorted.

He laughed at her before standing up. "Well, I'll be back in a few minutes if all goes well. Remember, _do not wander off_."

Anna gave a laugh as well. "Of course. Only half human here."

The Doctor nodded at her, satisfied with the answer.

She watched him walked away and laughed when he was approached by the strict lady, again.

A familiar groan caught her ears. The Face of Boe had his eyes opened and stared at her. "Hello," she greeted. "You are awake. I am Anna."

"Hello, Anna," she heard him speak in her head. "How are you?"

Anna frowned at the familiarity of the greeting. "Have I ever met you before?"

"A long, long time ago," he answered.

"I don't understand it," she whispered. "There is something about you... You feel very odd... Not just familiar, but different."

He let out a wheezing chuckle. "I have had an interesting... life."

"Have you been resurrected before?" It was a stab at the dark, but something about him...

"Yes." He noticed the painfully confused look on his face and chuckled again. "Do not think too much about it. Everything will be clear, soon."

"Everything?" She knelt down and placed her forehead on to the cool glass. "Even this odd feeling I have? I can feel your presence inside me. It is warm, feels nice..."

The Face of Boe hummed a soft, melodious tune, lulling her into a peaceful slumber.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

_"Do you think you can really hide from me, Adreanna?"_

_ Anna spun around in the darkness, trying to spot the speaker. "Who are you?"_

_ "Someone you will come to know very, very well." _

_ "Who are you?" she repeated._

_ There was no reply._

_ "__**Who are you?!**_**"**

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Anna?"

She jerked awake.

The Doctor was standing in front of her with concerned brown eyes. "Did you sleep through the quarantine?"

Anna stared at him blankly. "Quarantine?"

He burst out laughing. "I can't believe it! Oh, never mind." He gathered her into his arms and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Doctor?"

He let her go, grabbing a hold of her hand before taking Rose's as well. "Our adventure is done! Allons-y!"

"W-wait!" Anna stopped, looking back over her shoulders. "Where did the Face of Boe go? Did he..."

"Teleported away." The Doctor shrugged. "Said it wasn't his time to die. Left you a message, though, and I completely understand why. Glad it wasn't only me who thought it."

Anna tilted her head, wondering what it could possibly be.

"Use contractions."

Her eyes widened. _It can't be_.

* * *

Sorry! This came out two day late! School has started, again, and I just lost track of time! It's a bit short, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

As per usual, constructive criticism is welcome, as well as general questions and comments!

S.A.K.


	8. The Moonchild

**CHAPTER EIGHT: THE MOONCHILD**

Anna had not told anyone about her revelation. There was no mistake that Jack was still alive. He had been the only one to encourage her to use more contractions in her sentences. Only him, but how could that be?

On Satellite 5, the Daleks had broken through the lines of defense, meaning that Jack must've been defeated along the way, but what if he wasn't? What if he was merely unconscious? No, that can't be right either. The Face of Boe confirmed that he was resurrected, meaning that Jack had died that day. What brought him back? Could it possibly be the time vortex?

She remembered all those atoms around her. There was nothing that she couldn't do. Was it possible that she had subconsciously brought him back while eliminating the Daleks?

And this odd feeling inside her. The connection she felt. Did the resurrection form a bond between them? How could that be? The time vortex was no longer inside her.

The image of the gold veins in her eyes came to mind, but she quickly dismissed them. No, the Doctor had taken it all into his body. There shouldn't be any left, but what else could it possibly be?

If the time vortex was still inside her… She would die.

Will the Doctor allow that to happen?

Anna shook her head. "Last time he absorbed the time vortex, he had to take it into his own body, destroying it. If it is really still in me, I cannot let him risk another reincarnation. He is the Doctor. He fixes everything that is wrong with the world. He saves lives and me? I am _nothing_ of worth, but…"

She didn't want to die.

Anna gave a sardonic laugh. "But I am not supposed to exist. The offspring of a Seraphixian and a human should never be possible. I should never have existed in the first place. I'm an abomination."

"You're a bit mad sometimes, especially with coffee, but I don't see an abomination in front of me."

She swirled around to see the Doctor learning against the threshold of her door.

"What kind of abomination would take the time vortex into herself to save another?" he continued, walking towards her. "I'll tell you." He was inches away. "An angel who's just a little confused… Well… Maybe a lot confused." His hands cupped her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "You are _bloody_ fantastic and don't you ever think otherwise."

Anna gave him a teary smile. "Thanks, Doctor."

He gave her cheeks a couple of pats before backing away. "Well, I _am_ the Doctor. Got to be able to cure a bout of the blues. Now, do I really have to say it?"

"Go get dressed?"

"Yep!"

"Now, go get moving!"

She took a deep breath and exhaled all her worries.

Unfortunately, the TARDIS began to tremble, again, make it very difficult to navigate to the console room. When she arrived, however, she noticed that the Doctor was hammering away on the panel. "Is this why she never seems to work properly?" she asked, holding on to the nearest object.

"Nah. I told you, I know what I'm doing."

"I am surprised she has not complained about how you treat her, yet," Anna said with a chuckle, somehow managing to get on to the jump seat.

"The TARIDS loves me. She would never." He froze. "How do _you_ know if she's been complaining, anyway?"

Rose looked between them in confusion. "Does the TARDIS talk?"

"Well, it's complicated," the Doctor said. "She really shouldn't be able to talk to anyone!"

Anna frowned, trying to recall the memory. It was a bit hazy, so she'd reckon it would be... "Around the time you sent Rose and I away from Satellite 5. I heard a voice in my head when the heart of the TARDIS was revealed."

"For that long and you never bothered to mention it?"

"I _have_ mentioned it. Besides, she has not said anything else after. Usually, I just feel her in my mind."

"When?"

"I-I do not remember the exact time! But I did!" Anna defended herself. "Sometime... after Satellite 5 and before Barcelona. When I... When I explained what I remembered!"

The Doctor took a moment to think. "Hmm.. Perhaps you did... Never mind! We've arrived!" He opened the door and strolled out, but was immediately put at gun point by mounted soldiers. "Oh, not 1979," he groaned. "1879."

Anna gaped at him. "You brought us to a time period when the French are immensely hated by the British?"

He gave her an apologetic look before turning to the soldier who was talking to him. "Explain your presence and the nakedness of that girl."

"Oh, I'm dazed and confused. I've been chasing this wee naked child over hill and over dale. In't that right, ya timorous beastie?" the Doctor answered with a Scottish accent, nearly causing Anna to burst out laughing.

"Och! Ay! I've bin oot and aboot!" Rose gave it a go.

"No, don't do that," the Doctor whispered to her, frowning.

"Hoots mon."

"No, really don't. Really." This time, Anna really couldn't help, but burst into a fit of laughter.

The soldier immediately looked at her. "And who are you, my lady?"

Anna still laughing said, "Anna."

"Right. I am Doctor James McCrimmon from the University of Edinburgh," the Doctor said, taking the attention off the black-haired girl. "Here are my credentials. Here you see, a Doctorate." He flashed them the psychic paper. "That naked girl is Rose Tyler and you already know Anna."

Before the soldier could get another word in, an authoritative female voice ordered him to show her the strangers.

She was a regal woman, easily recognized by most countries at the time. "Rose. Anna. Might I introduce Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith."

Rose gave a small, awkward bow of some sort and said, "Rose Tyler, Ma'am. And my apologies for being so naked."

The queen did not seem to be offended, at all. "I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me." Then she turned to Anna. "But you, Princess Anna; Daughter of Princess Adreanna II, have I not told you that if your presence is ever known to me, you will be executed on the spot." Of course, at one point, she had met the queen and was forced to lie about her heritage. She couldn't tell the monarch that she hasn't aged.

Anna gave her a sheepish look. "Well... It could not be helped. You see..." She glanced at the Doctor for help who immediately came to her rescue.

"Ah, she's with me. Would you like to see my credentials?"

It was reluctant, but the Queen held out her hand and took the psychic paper from the Doctor. She gave him a slightly surprised look. "Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector. It also states that Princess Anna is your wife."

The Seraphixian gave him an odd look, which he responded with a shrug. The Doctor took the paper back, looking at it curiously. "Does it? Yes, it does! Good! Good! Wife!"

"Doctor," she hissed at him, but he wasn't sure how it had happened either.

"Princess Anna," the Queen addressed her, again. "When have the royal line resorted to marrying commoners?"

"Well," Anna started. "The French monarchy _has_ been abolished since before my... birth and the revolution has opened the eyes of many - mine included. Why marry a useless noble when I can marry the most brilliant Doctor in the universe?"

Queen Victoria gave her a scrutinizing look, but wanted nothing more of the conversation.

As the protector of the British queen, the Doctor and his timorous beastie were invited to walk behind the carriage, while Anna, though disliked by the Queen, had the pleasure to sit in the carriage.

"Are you not afraid of what I might do?" Anna asked.

The Queen looked at her. "You mean, why did I ask you to join me when you had just tried to take my life?"

Anna gave her a look and nodded.

"I have been investigating on your history, Princess," she continued. "Angel of Death, they called you. I thought it was passed down from generation to generation, but do you know what I found? You look exactly like your mother who looked exactly like her mother. I have lived long enough to know that there is no such thing as a coincidence. You have not aged for the past two centuries."

"If it helps," Anna started. "I was not there to kill you. The tree was not my doing. I was merely there to send the dying away. Your time is not to end just yet."

Queen Victoria gave her a pointed look. "Should you be telling me this?"

Anna leaned back. "It does not matter. All life ends and yours will come eventually, just not today"

The coach was silent for the remainder of the ride, neither royalties had anything to say to each other. When they arrived at the Torchwood Estate, Sir Robert MacLeish greeted them with a worried look on his face.

His wife was absent, taking the maids and cooks with her, but it was the butlers who really brought the alarms ringing in Anna's head. They didn't look like typical butlers, didn't even look like William who was an atypical butler. No, they looked as if they were the masters of the house, not Sir MacLeish.

"Please excuse the naked girl," the Queen stated.

"She's a feral child. I bought her for six pence in Old London Town. It was her or the Elephant Man," the Doctor injected.

"Thinks he's funny, but I'm _so_ not amused," Rose said. "What do you think, Ma'am?"

The Queen stared at her as if she was mad. "It hardly matters. Shall we proceed?"

As they were led into various places in the house, Anna turned to Rose. "What was that?"

"What was what?" the blonde asked back.

"The... I am _so_ not amused, bit."

"Have you never heard of it?"

"Heard of what?"

"How the queen likes to say 'we are not amused,'" Rose explained in a whisper.

"What?" Anna stared at the girl in disbelief. "She does not _like_ to say it. She does not even say it often."

Rose stopped walking for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"It has happened before once or twice, but it is not as if she says it like a... catch phrase of some sort," Anna said. "It is just something someone says... said..."

"B-but... Ten quids!"

"You _gambled_ on it?" Anna was absolutely appalled before turning to the Doctor who had a smug look on his face, as if Anna was too blind to know he was involved. "With _him_?" He cleared his throat, once addressed. "Queen Victoria might not be the most ruthless monarch, but she holds a lot of power in this era. One wrong word and you could get yourself exiled or executed."

"Oh, don't be so serious," the Doctor said, still with his Scottish accent, and placed an arm around her shoulders. "You might start getting wrinkle lines, wiiife!"

"You are incorrigible!"

They continued to walk in that manner until Sir Robert led them into a spacious room with a large telescope pointed towards the sky. The Doctor scurried over to it like a little child, looked through the eye piece, and obliviously pointed out all the flaws. "There are too many prisms," he had said before he realized what he was saying and tried to correct it. "But it's pretty. Very pretty."

"And the imagination of it should be applauded," the Queen added.

Rose jumped in, not ready to give up ten quids just yet. "Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty. Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful? You could easily... not be amused, or something...? No...?"

"Please stop," Anna groaned and hid her face in her hands while the Doctor tried to hide the grin that was tugging at his lips.

The Queen remained stoic and continued her approval of the telescope. The information was interesting to know, but the mention of a wolf caught all of their attention. Sir Robert seemed to be having an internal conflict with himself. He started to tell the story, but one look at the head butler caused him to stop. The butler, in turn, decided to lead the guests to each of the rooms they would be residing in.

Anna stood in front of the full-body mirror in her assigned room for several long moments, just looking at her eyes. She was satisfied to see nothing was out of ordinary. There were her eye whites that had a very light tint of blue, and there were her grey pupils. Nothing wrong. Nothing wrong. With a smile, she left the room to find the Doctor standing there with his arm held out to her. "Shall we go, my lady?"

She rested her arm on his and laced their hands together. "We shall, kind Doctor."

"So when were you going to tell us that you were a Princess?"

"Never asked."

"But didn't you think it'd be something nice to know?"

Anna rested her head on his shoulder. "Maybe, but it does not matter. I am who I am and a mere title is never going to change that."

"Good," the Doctor smiled.

They arrived in the dining room and sat on the side. The Queen had taken her seat at the head with Sir Robert across from the Doctor. His butler stood to the side beside the window and the captain of the Queen's personal escorts stood behind his charge, but Rose was nowhere to be seen.

As they waited for the remainder of the party, the Doctor urged Sir Robert to tell the story of the wolf, once more.

"The story goes back three hundred years," Sir Robert started. "Every full moon, the howling rings through the valley. The next morning, livestock is found ripped apart and... devoured. Sometimes, it would be a child who goes missing. Once in a generation. A boy will vanish from his homestead. There have been drawings and woodcarvings. And it's not merely a wolf. It's more than that. This is a man who becomes an animal."

The entire table was intrigued by the tale.

"A werewolf?" the Doctor whispered, leaning closer.

"My father didn't treat it as a story. He said it was fact. He even claimed to have communed with the beast - to have learned its purpose. I should've listened..." He gave the butler a quick glance before continuing. "His work was hindered - he made enemies. There's a Monastery in the Glen of Saint Catherine. The Brethen opposed my father's investigations. Perhaps they thought his work was ungodly, but now I wonder... What if they had a different reason for wanting the story kept quiet? What if they turned from God and worshipped the wolf?"

Anna turned her head as she heard a coin drop to the floor. The butler had an odd look on his face.

"And what if they were with us, right now?" the Doctor added.

All eyes fell on the butler who was facing the window, chanting. Moments later, there was nothing but chaos. The captain's gun was pointed at Sir Robert who was explaining his captured wife. The Queen was trying to figure out what was happening and the Doctor, in his anger, completely lost his Scottish accent. "Rose! Where's Rose! Where is she?!"

Anna looked at the Doctor and ran off to find the blonde. The Doctor was the reason she hated Rose, yet knew that the girl cannot be harmed. If things were different, well... then things would be different.

Down the corridors she went until she stopped by Rose's room. She didn't bother to knock. The door was unlocked and the interior was ordinary - no signs of struggles. Where could she be? She continued down the halls. She found several of the Queen's guards unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Why were they unharmed? If the conspirators were to kill the Queen, why not kill her personal guards? Why?!

She felt a hand wind around her face and press against her mouth. Her feet instinctively dragged down the attacker's shin, landing on the toes. The hand slipped away.

Anna looked at the three butlers in front of her. "Who are you?"

They stared at her, wondering if explanations were appropriate. "We apologize, but you must come with us."

"I do not have to do _anything_," Anna retorted. "Tell me what is happening. Where did you take Rose? Why are you doing any of this?"

"The girl has been taken to the cellar."

"What about the Queen? It does not seem like you are here to kill her," she stated. "You left her guards alive. Either that or you failed to kill them."

They looked at each other, then looked around. When they were satisfied, they said. "We are the Brethren who have been guarding the wolf."

"Guarding? Protecting or imprisoning?"

The one to her right let a smile escape. "It seems like you have figured it out. The Brethren have waited long for this moment. The Queen was to be brought here to lure the wolf out. We will capture and destroy the beast when the time is right."

"And how will you destroy this beast?"

"With moonlight."

"Moonlight? Bu-" Anna's eyes widened. "The telescope... Is not a telescope, is it? The prisms – too many cuts - are there to amplify the light. But what will that do? The wolf _likes_ the moonlight... Unless... it can somehow be overwhelmed by it! Ingenious!"

"Thank you, my lady."

"Right, well. I will be off to find Rose, now. Do _not_ sneak up on me, again. I have been feeling rather... unwell," she gave as a final warning before darting off.

When she finally arrived at the cellar, there was no one there. All that was left were broken chains and a broken cage. She was too late. All she could hope for was Rose's safety. She ran back upstairs, but slipped on something that was scattered on the floor.

Small leaves were everywhere. She picked one up and observed it. Mistletoe? It wasn't Christmas, yet. Dismissing the oddity, she continued her trek to find the blonde and perhaps the Doctor as well.

Suddenly, a hand grasped her waist, pulling her into a room. Before the door could even close, the hand was gone, crumbled into dust. Anna couldn't even bare to look back to see who it was. She knew what had happened to it... him... whoever. Fear consumed her. _Please do not let it be the Doctor or Rose..._

She slowly turned around and saw black garment on the floor. It must've been another monk. She crouched down and gave the fabric a stroke, whispering her apologies. It was no doubt that something was terribly wrong with her and everything led to the same conclusion. The time vortex was still inside her and she could not control it. If she wasn't careful, the people around her would also crumble into ashes.

Before she could properly get to her feet, a heavy weight fell on her. A breath into the ashes made her cough. The weight was suffocating her. She felt it move back slightly and with a quick glance, she noticed that her captor was not a wolf. It was truly a werewolf, or perhaps an alien. Either way, if it bit her... She couldn't bear to think of what would happen.

When it made to eat her, however, it gave a disgusted snarl and leapt away.

Anna was left panting, her heart racing against her chest. Why did it run away? Did she stink? She just took a bath! She shouldn't stink... at least to her...

It seemed like the Doctor had a good influence on her. Things were slowly being pieced in her head. Mistletoe! The wolf hated mistletoe, so the monks scattered it around the house, protecting the occupants.

She felt like a mad woman running about in the house, but when she made it to the telescope chamber, the Queen was pointing a gun at her. "Hello." Queen Victoria gave her a look of annoyance before putting the weapon away.

Anna turned to the Doctor who had, fortunately, found Rose. "Doctor, the telescope. It is no-" She froze. "Is that the Koh-I-Noor?"

The Doctor nodded, turning the diamond around in his hand. "Yes, it is. The greatest diamond in the world. Now, what was it you were trying to tell me?"

Anna blinked, looking away from the precious jewel. 'Right. The telescope is not really a telescope. It is a light magnifier."

He looked up at her, frowning. "Light magnifier?"

She was about to answer him, but noticed bits of plaster falling down. Her head tilted upward until she saw the wolf right above them, on the glass dome. "Wolf!"

They all dove away as the glass shattered and the wolf landed in the middle of the room. It roared, rearing to attack.

"Light magnifier to do what?" the Doctor whispered before his mind comprehended all the pieces of the puzzle. "Oh! Clever!" He turned to the Queen who was beside him. "Sir Robert's father and your husband must've truly believed these stories and planned against it, which means that the real trap is not for you... but for the wolf. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! And that diamond. That diamond he was so adamant to cut perfectly is the final piece of the telescope - no, light chamber! For the wolf! Mind if I borrow it for a moment, Your Majesty?"

The Queen stared at him, but with the wolf in their presence, could not afford to lose any precious time to hesitate, and handed the Doctor the diamond. Seconds later, they moved just in time to avoid the wolf that had pounced on the desk, shattering it. The Doctor raced to the light chamber and placed it into its rightful compartment. He adjusted the settings to move the objective lens. It was a slow process, consuming time that he could not afford to lose. "Come on. Come on!"

"Hurry, Doctor!" Rose shouted as the wolf reared back to attack the Queen who stood, staring motionlessly at the beast.

The lens was finally angled right under the moon, but the light that came out hit the floor. The Doctor dove down to it with a mirror in his hand, redirecting the beam. It hit the wolf, right as it was inches away from the Queen, suspending it in midair.

It looked to be in pain and begged to be let go. The Doctor, finding the plentiful mercy in his heart, magnified the light further until the beast was completely gone.

He immediately focused his attention on the Queen to see if she was alright and found her examining her hand. A frown appeared. "Your Majesty, are you alright? Did the wolf scratch you?"

The Queen quickly hid her hand away. "Just a cut from when the wood shattered," she replied.

The other occupants in the room shared a look, but could do nothing about it. She was the Queen.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Later that day, Anna was sad to find that Sir Robert had been murdered while defending the Queen, leaving his wife widowed with no one but the maids. His dedication to Lady Isobel had been highly admirable and his death would not be in vein.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Sir Doctor of TARDIS," the Queen announced, tapping the sword on both of the Time Lord's shoulder. He with his head bowed down, a large grin was on his face. "By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. You may stand." The newly knighted pair complied.

"Thanks, Ma'am," the Doctor said before turning to Anna. "Are you sure you don't want to be part of this? It feels great!"

Anna shook her head with a smile. "It would be highly inappropriate for the Princess of France to be knighted by the Queen of the British Empire. I would have to be under her allegiance, compromising my status."

"Politics!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving a message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, Ma'am, even from beyond the grave."

"Indeed," the Queen agreed. "Then you may think on this, also: that I am not amused."

The Doctor and Anna both groaned for their own reasons, while Rose was thrilled. She was ten quid richer! Of course, that really didn't mean much if the Doctor never had any money...

"Not remotely amused," Queen Victoria continued. "And henceforth... I banish you."

The was a short moment of silence as everyone stared at the Queen in shock.

"I'm sorry?" the Doctor choked out.

"I rewarded you, Sir Doctor. And now you are exiled from this empire, never to return,. I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun," the Queen stated in anger. "But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death and I will not allow it! You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you managed to stray as far from all that is good. And how much longer you will survive this... terrible life."

She was not quite down just yet. "And... Princess Anna, I don't know how long you will remain on this world, but hear this, the next time you appear before me, it will not be my life lost. Pretending you are the Reaper, the darkness will consume you." Before Anna could protest that it wasn't her, the Queen redirected her attention to all three travellers. "Now leave my world and never return."

Even after being exiled from the Queen's land, neither the Doctor nor Rose were in a bad mood. Rose was too caught up with the idea of the royal line being werewolves and the Doctor played along. Anna, however, was lost in her own thoughts.

The Queen was not far off when she said the Darkness would consume her. That voice that had been haunting her dreams… something about it made her quiver in fear. Someone or something was after her and she didn't know what to do.

"Anna?" She looked at the Doctor. "Feeling alright?"

"I am fine, Doctor." Even he could not save her from herself.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

This chapter is much longer than the previous two... or three! I hope you like it. I had to do some editing right before I posted because I had all these chapters written a couple of years ago and I've learned more things about Doctor Who since then!

Thank you **kotobukiis **for reviewing! It really inspired me to write some more! I'm so glad you love Anna! I really try to make her not Mary Sue, but sometimes it's really difficult when the story is basically revolving around her.

I hope the canon characters are not OOC! Tell me if they are and I'll try to modify them so they seem more realistic.

As per usual, constructive criticisms are welcomed, as well as general questions and comments!

S.A.K.


	9. The Chips

**CHAPTER NINE: THE CHIPS**

"Hello, you may call me Anna. Your teacher, Ms. Kincaid, is currently feeling unwell and I will be your substitute for the time being." All the bored faces reminded Anna of the French court. No one really cared about what went on. "So you had just started the unit of the French Revolution. Why don't we have a review of what you already know?" She looked around for any sign to show that _someone_ was paying attention and noticed someone had their hand up. "Hello, what is your name?"

"Jordon," the boy at the back answered.

"Do you have a question for me, Jordon?"

"How old are you, miss?"

Surprised the inquiry, Anna stared at him for a moment before replying, "Much older than you." Several of the other boys laughed, but Jordon had a smug look on his face, as if he accomplished something. "If you are quite done, I would like to continue. Let us start with the basics. Can anyone tell me when the Revolution started?"

A girl sitting right in front of Anna raised her hand.

The black-haired girl nodded at her. "Hannah, miss," she said without needing to be asked. "1789."

"Very good," Anna said in approval. It was nice for someone to be serious in this class. "Now, what were the two sides and what triggered it?" She looked around for someone else to answer the question, but only found Hannah, once more. "Alright, Hannah."

"It was between the aristocrats and the working class. The economy was falling and the French royals were extravagantly spending money on food that they could not possibly finish. When King Louis VI married the Archduchess of Austria, Marie Antoinette, the people were positively enraged. Their Queen wasn't even of French descent. Not only that, she, too, would carelessly spend the royal riches on jewels and dresses, but the misconception is that, she had never ordered anyone to eat cake," Hannah finished, leaving Anna in stunned silence. Most of that had not been covered, yet, but perhaps she had merely read ahead. They were, however, only eleven, so the likelihood was slim to none.

"Very... good, Hannah. Let us just, go a bit off on a tangent," Anna continued, very curious on how much the girl before her knew. "Hannah, when are penguins found near the Magnetic North Pole?"

"They have not been at the north pole for approximately seven hundred and eighty thousand years, but the poles typically reverse every one thousand to ten thousand years. It has been assumed that the range between the switches is knot point one to one million years. When our current south pole becomes magnetic, this time frame is called chrons and-"

"Wonderful, Hannah," Anna interrupted, awkwardly. "A wide range of knowledge at that young age."

For the remainder of the class, she decided to avoid asking any questions.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

She was most definitely not made to teach. Her feet were tired from being idle and her throat felt more parched than the last time she fell ill.

When she arrived at the cafeteria, she could not recognize anything, so she decided to try them all. As she moved down the line to an odd glob of yellow, she noticed Rose giving her an annoyed look. The Doctor hadn't informed her that Rose was working as the dinner lady! She didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the poor girl!

She did, however, spot the Doctor who was eating the yellow sticks and immediately made her way to him. "Hello, Doctor."

"Hello, Anna," he greeted back. "How was your class? Anything interesting happen?"

Anna raised an eyebrow at him. "Something_ very_ interesting happened. This girl, Hannah, seemed to know-"

"Everything?"

"Yes! Not anything a normal eleven-year-old should know!" Anna exclaimed. "Geomagnetic reversal!"

"Had a strange kid like that in my class as well, Milo. Incredibly intelligent." He looked at Anna for a moment. "Stand up, will you?" The girl gave him an odd look, but complied. "That outfit looks pretty good on you. Maybe you should wear pencil skirts more often."

Anna blushed. "It is impossible to run in this outfit, Doctor. And travelling with you, I realized that an inability to run means becoming a part of history."

He chuckled. "You're already part of history, Princess Adreanna. Now, aren't you going to eat your chips?"

"Chips?" Anna tilted her head, sitting back down.

"Yeah, these things," he said, holding up another yellow stick. "You're French. Haven't you ever had these before?"

"I have never had _any_ of this!" she exclaimed, gesturing to her tray. "It looks... disgusting."

"Oh, very disgusting and these ones have a peculiar taste to them," he agreed. "Oodles and oodles of oil are used to make these. And that yellow goo? Well, not sure what that is really. Kind of tastes like apples with custard and... some more oil..." He stopped when he saw the blood run from Anna's cheeks. "Maybe we should go out to get something else for you to eat."

Just then, Rose came over with a wash cloth in her hand. The Doctor decided to be mean and pointed out different spots for her to clean until Anna kicked him from under the table. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Anna, aren't you going to eat your chips?" Rose asked, stealing one from the Doctor.

The Seraphixian groaned.

"She's never had any before!" The Doctor tried to be helpful. "Never had chips! Imagine that and I thought all apes ate chips all day long!"

"Apes?" Anna sounded offended. "Even if I agreed with your statement, I would only be _half_ ape."

He laughed.

"Hey!" Rose shouted. "We are _not_ apes and we don't eat chips _all_ day."

"Alright, alright," the Doctor conceded. "Not all day. _Most _of the day. Now, shall we get something more sophisticated for the princess?"

Anna glared at him. "Stop calling me that! And you wonder why I have not told you sooner!"

Rose looked between the two. "So the two of you are going on a date? During school hours?"

Anna tilted her head. "That is going out with someone? Then yes, we are heading outside because I find this school tiring and the food is absolutely appalling."

The Doctor laughed, again, while Rose sputtered, realizing that Anna _still_ didn't quite understand the concept of dating. "Allons-y, mon ange!"

"Thirty minutes!" They heard Rose shouted after them.

The Doctor and Anna strolled down the street, looking for anything that remotely appealed to the picky girl. They passed by a nice place for sushi, Chinese, Greek, and even Ethiopian food, but nothing tugged at her fancy.

"What are you hungry for?" the Doctor asked, again.

"I still don't know!" Anna shouted in frustration.

"Maybe some wine and cheese?"

She glared at him. "That would be much better than those _chips_, but no, maybe some chicken? Pasta?"

He grinned at her. "Now, why didn't you just say so sooner! We passed by a nice little Italian restaurant a few blocks, ago. Come on, off we go back!"

The Italian restaurant was indeed small, but it was quaint. Anna found the dim like to be very relaxing. A waiter, perhaps the only one, walked by and led them to their table. She quickly ordered her chicken, pasta, with a side dish of greens. "We only have twenty minutes left. Better start gobbling it down when it comes."

And when the food came, Anna could not find it within herself to rush. She was used to having all the time in the world to eat her meals. She was a mere quarter done when the Doctor gave the five minute warning. She glared at him, again. "You can always help."

"I guess I could," he said, tugging his ear. "Not even fun to watch since you're not eating like a maniac."

"Just shut up and help."

He laughed and took the salad fork and began to dig in. "It's good!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I'll come back here, next time. Tomorrow?"

Anna nodded. "Anything but chips."

When they finally finished the dish, there were only two minutes left. The Doctor looked at Anna to pay, but Anna didn't have any proper money. They shared a look before running off. "I guess we're not going to come back!" He laughed as the waiter shouted after them.

Class had unfortunately already started when they arrived, late and slightly sweaty. The headmaster stopped them as they ran by the office, hand in hand. "Hello, headmaster!" the Doctor greeted as if nothing was wrong.

"I don't know what school you have been teaching in, but tardiness is not accepted by the students nor the teachers," he stated. "This will be your only warning. Do not let it happen, again." The two nodded their heads like two guilty children, reading to comply with anything to appease the adult. "Now, go start teaching."

Anna thought it might just be her imagination, but did the students just get smarter? More students were answering questions and elaborating it in a way that most adults would have trouble understanding. Needless to say, all the afternoon classes were extremely awkward for the first-time teacher. She was more than relieved to hear the last school bell ring, signalling the end of classes.

She met the Doctor and Rose in the school yard. "The lady just started screaming when the oil spilled on her and her body started to smoke!" she heard the blonde exclaim to the Doctor. "The other cafeteria ladies just carried her off into a room and acted as if nothing was wrong, even though _clearly_ something was! I heard the woman scream again and then _poof_ everything went quiet."

"And you said the oil makes the chips?" Anna asked, forming a triangle with them.

"Yeah... I did," he answered, thoughtfully. "That yellow goop you were serving tasted kinda oily, too."

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

As night rolled by, they re-entered the school to investigate the oddity of particular students. Rose had called up her boyfriend, Mickey Smith, who looked as if he was torn with the decision to stay at home and to stay to protect her

"Oh, it's weird seeing school at night," Rose whispered. "It just feels... wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teacher slept in school"

The Doctor ignored her. "All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say that. Um... gang. No... comrades. Uh... anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen and get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers, go and check out the Maths department. I'm gonna look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes."

"And me, Doctor?"

He looked at her. "Right, umm... just go and... guard this hall."

Anna stared at him. "Guard it from_ what?_"

"From... you know... things you should guard it from."

Anna continued to stare at him. "I am going back to the TARDIS."

"No, wait!" He grabbed her arm. "I just... never mind." He let her go.

Hurt, Anna walked out the front door and rounded a corner before sliding down to the ground. Why was he suddenly acting like this? They were fine in the afternoon - shared a meal, ran from the restaurant without paying, and had a decent conversation about the school after. What went wrong? Did she say something to offend him?

He confused her so much. Nothing he did was of the convention. Was he playing with her? Having a jolly laugh as she gets caught up in his need for entertainment?

Suddenly, a loud scream caught her attention. It was coming from the wall right behind her. She raced back into the school and saw Mickey arguing with the Doctor. "It was dark! I was covered in rats!"

"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails and frilly skirts."

"Doctor?" Anna spoke up.

He turned towards her, surprised by her appearance. "I thought you went back into the TARDIS."

"You parked the TARDIS inside, Doctor," she stated.

He looked at her. "Right... Right..."

"Hello, can we focus?" Rose interrupted. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons," a woman Anna didn't recognize retorted. "They dissect them or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?"

Rose was offended. "Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"

Anna looked awkwardly between the two squabbling woman.

"Anyway, moving on!" the Doctor tried to focus their attention away from each other. "Sarah Jane, this is Anna. Anna, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane had been one of my companions."

"Hello," Sarah Jane turned to her with a smile, the anger was gone from her face. She extended her hand as a polite greeting, but Anna was slightly confused.

The platinum blonde girl gave her a curtsy, not quite sure how to respond to handshakes. She had seen men do it, but it was improper for the female population. She was given a surprised look for Sarah Jane.

"When did you pick this one up?" she asked the Doctor.

Anna stared at her. Had the woman just addressed her as if she was an _object_?

"If you wish to speak about me as such, please do it outside my presence." She glared at the woman. "I will not tolerate insolence from an ignorant woman." She couldn't help the princess persona from peeking through.

"Ignorant?!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "I have lived far longer than you have and seen more of this universe than you could possibly imagine."

"Sarah Jane, I do not doubt that you have seen more of this universe than me, considering you had been by the Doctor's side for a far greater time, but I assure you, I have seen my fair share of oddities. I would also like you to know that my appearance is _very_ deceiving," Anna growled.

She thought Anna appeared as a soft-spoken girl, but this dark side was rather astonishing. Sarah Jane, however, was not one to back down. "What could you have possibly seen, stuck on this Earth?"

"Deaths," Anna whispered. "Millions and millions. Never ending."

Sarah Jane was not expecting this answer and wasn't quite sure how to reply. At first, she thought it was the mere sight of people dying, but something in the girl's eyes was haunting - alien. She was not human and it took her this long to figure out. "What are you?" she whispered back.

"I have been many things," the girl replied. The energy was suddenly zapped out of her voice. "And I seem to have given them all up."

"To travel with the Doctor?"

"To be free."

They seemed to have found their closure and stopped the conversation as it was. Everyone was relieved that that argument had ended.

After leaving the vacuum-packed rats where they were, the Doctor led them into the Headmaster's office where he used his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door. When he peeked in, he was stunned by the sight in front of him. There were bat-like creatures hanging on the ceiling, sleeping. The other four looked over his shoulder and gaped in stunned silence. "Rose, you know how you used to think all teachers slept in school? Well, they do."

"No way!" Mickey exclaimed.

They all rushed out, racing out of the school, panting for breath. Mickey was convinced that nothing would ever get him to set foot in that school again, but the Doctor needed his TARDIS to analyze the sample he had received from Rose.

"I might have something to help you there," Sarah Jane offered. She opened the trunk of her car and uncovered a robot dog.

"K-9!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Everyone, I would like to introduce to you, K-9. Well, K-9 Mark III to be exact." With that, Sarah Jane and the Doctor immersed themselves into a deep conversation revolving around the robot dog.

Eventually, Rose could not take it any longer and tried to stopped their conversation over the 'tin dog.' The Doctor closed the trunk with a grin, not quite ready to let it go quite yet.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Anna spent half an hour, glaring at the Doctor. A _chip_ shop! He had Sarah Jane bring them to a chip shop! Had she not spent the entire lunch period, complaining about how disgusting the food was? Did the appearance of the woman and her robot dog make him forget everything she had said?

She was jealous. She was _very_ jealous.

It was hard enough to compete with Rose for the Doctor's affection. They had history together, but Sarah Jane? It seemed as if the Doctor had a _family_ with her.

But it made sense. She was the last addition, practically the black sheep. Rose had Mickey to keep her company right now and the Doctor was light years away with Sarah Jane. Who did she have? No one.

Perhaps this was why the Doctor had been so dismissive of her today. He must've reunited with Sarah Jane sometime between lunch and then. Maybe that woman was going to replace her.

Anna placed her head on the cool table, still staring at the couple speaking animatedly with each other. She felt tired. She knew she had nothing to compete with anyone, but it was nice to just imagine. To just drift off at night and dream of things that could be. She wanted to spend all her time with him, alone - without Rose, Sarah Jane, or any other companions he may have had. It was selfish, just thinking of her own happiness, but she wanted that. She wanted to be in the centre of the Doctor's attention.

The lunch they had together made her realize that just being by his side may not be enough. She wanted his affection. All of his affection. All of his love... She didn't like sharing. No sharing. No sharing...

A burst of pain pulsed through her head, making her clench her eyes shut and groan loudly. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself staring at deep, concerned eyes. "Anna, are you alright?"

Why was she on the floor? Hadn't she just been sitting on a chair? "Doctor?" She felt his warm hands examine her head, gently tilting it.

"What happened?" Rose asked, concern also apparent in her eyes. "One moment you were just sitting there, the next, your body was shaking so badly I thought you were going through a seizure!"

"Don't know," Anna mumbled. "Head hurts..."

The Doctor stared at her before gathering her thin body into his arms, massaging her temples. "Better?"

"Mmm..." She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. "Better. Please, don't ignore me again."

His fingers froze, but started rubbing the soft skin, again, when he heard a soft whine. "I wasn't ignoring you, Anna."

"You didn't want me to help you, tonight," Anna continued. "It hurt..."

"I'm sorry," he whispered back. "I'm so sorry. It was never my intention to hurt you. I was... confused."

She tilted her head to look up at him. "Have you become unconfused, yet?"

He smiled at her. "Not yet, but I promise I'll never ignore you, again."

"Mmm..." She relaxed back against him.

They heard someone clear their throat and immediately separated, a blush on each other their faces.

"Come here K-9, meet your new friends. Anna. Rose. Mickey." The Doctor beckoned the robot dog over, which he fixed right before Anna collapsed.

"Greetings. Anna. Rose. Mickey," it said in its robotic voice.

Anna couldn't help but find the creation to be... very cute.

The Doctor took the sample of oil, dipped his finger in it -ignoring Rose's warning- and smeared it on K-9's analyser. "Oil. Ex-ex-ex-extract ana-an-analysing. Confirmation of analysis - substance is Krillitane Oil."

"They're Krillitanes," the Doctor announced in disbelief. "That's very bad. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad. They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries - people you've invaded or have been invaded by, you've got bits - bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever - the Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry-pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks."

Rose looked at him. "But what are they doing here?"

"The children," the Doctor whispered. "They must be doing something to the children..."

Anna watched him walk off, muttering to himself with Rose trailing behind. Sarah Jane decided to put K-9 away, with Mickey helping her. Where was she to go? Everyone always seemed to be paired off, leaving her behind. But she didn't want to be alone. Anna ran off to find the Doctor and ended up hearing something she didn't want to hear.

"I don't age. I regenerate, but humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you -" he froze.

The platinum blonde, still unaware by the duo, felt her heart sink. Was that his confession for Rose? Was she too late? Did she ever have a chance?

"What, Doctor?" Rose urged him on.

He couldn't say it. He couldn't say that word, but he had to make her understand. "You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."

She thought she heard something break. Rose may not have comprehended those words, but Anna knew perfectly what the Doctor was saying. He had made his choice. He couldn't say he loved her, but it was there. Those fanciful words he had used to replace it.

But what did she know of love? Never been remotely close to love. Maybe what she was feeling was lust - residues from that day. Tears welled in her eyes before she could even stop them.

"Doctor?" She mentally reprimanded herself for not being able to keep her voice stable. "What about me? My people can live for centuries - millennia. I do not age like humans do. Will you still put me away into the same basket? Turn a blind eye and disregard it?" She took a deep breath. "I know I may not be the one who would prefer, but I can stay with you... forever if you will have me."

He stared at her as if really seeing her for the first time. "Anna... I... I just can't..."

Anna stepped back, closing her eyes. Why did she try?

Unfortunately, she had not noticed the Krillitane flying straight towards her. "Anna! NO!"

Her eyes snapped open. She saw the Doctor pull Rose and Sarah Jane down as two sharp claws dug into her shoulders. The pain was the least of her worries. Her body was hundreds of metres up in the air. "Doctor! Doctor!"

The Doctor watched in horror as her screams faded into the night. No... Not like this. Not with those words still hanging between them.

"Doctor, should we...?" Sarah Jane had seen the Krillitane take the girl back into the school.

He continued to stare at the school, wanting nothing more than to charge in and carry her back out, but he couldn't. He had three more lives to look after and they would surely follow him in. "No, tomorrow morning. And rest assure, I will _not_ let them get away with this."

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

She felt her back hit the floor of the school computer lab. "Hello, Anna," she heard a voice greet her.

"Headmaster," she said back, slowly sitting up. "Should I be surprised to see you?"

He smiled at her. "Now, I wonder... I know that you are not quite human, but I can't seem to place what you are... Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Not really in the mood to comply," she groaned as the cuts on the shoulder stung with every movement. "Perhaps if you had treated me a bit better..."

The headmaster chuckled. "I was merely being polite to a lady." He turned to the Krillitane beside him who raised one of its claw. One finger slid across the blood soaked claw before slipping into his mouth. He swirled it in his mouth for a moment as Anna stared at him with disgust. "Ah... How unusual. Human, yet not quite. Seraphixian? An angel? There is no one quite like you. Seraphixians cannot interbreed with other species, but here you are." Anna did not like the sickening grin that slid across his face. "Oh, what a great addition you will make. Imagine obtaining the power of the Gods."

Anna let out a laugh. "If you think you can possibly gain anything from me, you are sorely mistaken. My powers are gone. My wings are broken. You will gain _nothing_ from me."

"Gone?" he sputtered. "That's impossible! They can't be just _gone_."

"Something went wrong after a fatal injury," she said, with a smug look on her face. "My body could not heal properly. Had to redirect all my powers to healing, seemed to completely sap it dry. Healing like a human, now."

He roared in anger. "Then you will rot here. When the Time Lord comes to save you, I will consume him. Take her into the equipment room, make sure she won't be causing any trouble - any noise."

Anna struggled against the Krillitane that had once again dug its claws into her shoulder, deepening the wound. She growled and as a last resort, tried to pull out that frightening power of the time vortex that was still inside her, but there was nothing. It was not under her control.

She looked up at the Krillitane, which had just thrown her into the small, overstuffed closet full of old computer parts. It snarled at her, raised one claw, and drove it downward. She couldn't even feel the pain before darkness enveloped her.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

As the next morning rolled by, the Doctor was ready and very, very angry. "Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computer, I need to see the hardware inside. Here," he threw Sarah Jane his screwdriver. "You might need this. Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside. It's time I had a word with Mr. Finch."

He stormed through the halls until he found the Headmaster just beneath him on the staircase. The Headmaster looked up and found the Doctor staring a hole through his head. He smirked and walked off, knowing full well that he would be followed.

When they arrived at the swimming pool, the Doctor didn't bother with small talk. "Who are you? Where did you take her?"

"I am Brother Lassa and you?"

"The Doctor. Now, tell me where she is!" His patience was running thin.

"So impatient. So fascinating" Brother Lassa whispered. "Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?"

The Time Lord glared at him. "I'm so old, now. I used to have so much mercy." His voice was dangerously low. "You get one warning. That was it. If you cannot give me Anna, then you are worthless to me." He turned his back to the Headmaster and walked away.

He walked into the computer lab and found Sarah Jane and Rose laughing at him as he arrived. If it were any other time, he would've been bothered by it. "They took her here, into this school. I saw them! Where would they hide her?" He shouted, tugging at his hair, pacing around. "Where?" He passed by a door and froze.

"What wrong, Doctor?" Rose asked, seeing him sniff the air.

"I smell... blood." He tugged at the door, but found it lock. "Pass me my screwdriver."

Rose threw it at him.

"Please. Please, please, please, don't let it be her," he whispered, swinging the door open. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no." He gently gathered her broken body into his arms, afraid to injure her any further. "Oh, Anna. What have they done to you?" With a shaky hand, he brushed a tendril of hair away from her face. "Anna... come on, wake up."

Suddenly, the screens all turned on at the same time. Green cubes moved at rapid speed. He stood up with Anna still in his arms. "The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm."

"The Skasis what?" Sarah Jane asked, trying not to stare at the bloody girl.

"The... God-maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control. And the kids, they're like a... a giant computer. Their learning power is being accelerated by the oil! That oil from the kitchens, it works as - as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer."

"But that oil's on the chips," Rose said. "I've been eating them."

He turned to her, shifting Anna slightly. "What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?"

"Two thousand sixty five," the blonde automatically answered. "Oh, my God..."

"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane asked, not one to just accept thing as they were.

"No, it's gotta be children. The God-maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code... they're using their souls," the Doctor finished.

At that moment, the Headmaster walked in. "I must congratulate you on finding your prize, but it doesn't look like she'll last much longer." His shoes 'clacked' against the floor as he drew nearer. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it. Think of all the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

The Doctor frowned at him. "What, by someone like you?"

"No... someone like you," Brother Lassa answered. "The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God. At my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta... your people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn. Anna..."

The last Time Lord stared at him, then shifted his gaze to the girl in his arms. "I could save everyone... I could stop the war... And Anna... I could stop all the pain..."

"Doctor, don't listen to him," Sarah Jane intercepted.

The humanoid Krillitane turned his attention to the other two females. "And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young... fresh... never wither, never age... never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us. You may have Anna by your side."

"Doctor, Anna is still alive, but we must hurry," Sarah Jane reasoned. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or relationship... everything has its time. And everything ends."

The Doctor gritted his teeth. _Anna is still alive_. He gently placed her on a chair before lifting the one beside her. He hurled it towards the large screen and picked up the girl, again. "Out!"

They ran down the halls and into the kitchen, where they saw barrels and barrels of Krillitane Oil. "Rose, you said the dinner lady was scorched by the oil?"

"Yeah."

He would have tugged at his hair if his hands were free. "That's it! They've changed the physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. And we're leading them straight here. Wonderful! Sarah, Rose, try opening a barrel. It shouldn't burn you. You had been eating it, Rose."

The blonde rolled her eyes at him and tried to try open the barrel with Sarah Jane's help, but it was impossible.

"Deadlock sealed!" Sarah Jane announced.

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser," K-9 injected, its lights flashed as it spoke. "But my batteries are failing."

The Doctor looked down at Anna, once more. He could barely see the rise and fall of her chest. She needed medical attention, but neither Rose nor Sarah Jane would be able to get her to safety. He ordered them to get out, leaving K-9 and Anna, who could not possibly move, to stay with him.

"Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be placed directly beside the vat."

"But you'll be trapped inside," the Doctor whispered.

"That is correct."

"I can't let you do that."

"No alternative possible, Master."

The Doctor was about to protest, once more, but realized that their time had run out. The Krillitane screeches were coming from just outside the kitchen door. "You're a good boy, K-9."

"Affirmative," it said with its lights flashing and tail wagging.

The Time Lord gave the robotic dog one last look before running out the door. He found Sarah Jane who was just outside, waiting for him, and beckoned for her to hurry away. She looked around for K-9, shouting at the Doctor for her dog, but one glance at the man and she realized what a brave hero K-9 must be.

They ran as fast as they could, barely avoiding the explosion that blew their bodies forward.

Unfortunately, the Doctor lost his grip on Anna, feeling her fly away from him, as he landed on the floor. He immediately scrambled to his feet to check on the girl. Her pulse was far too weak. She was dying. She was dying and it may be too late to save her.

"Doctor, you have to get her back to the TARDIS," Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor nodded and picked up the girl, again, racing into the blue box. He navigated himself into the Medical Bay and placed Anna on the bed. "Come on. I'm a Doctor. I can do this."

Sarah Jane, Rose, and Mickey waited in the console room. They were restless, wondering how the black-haired girl was. Mickey may not have had a good look at her, but he saw a glimpse of the Doctor's suit and saw it heavily stained in blood.

Hours seemed to pass before the Doctor came out, rubbing at his temples. His face was grim.

"Doctor, how is she?" Rose may think the Anna was just another competition for the Doctor's affection, but she had grown slightly attached to the Seraphixian.

He sighed. "I managed to stabilize her condition, but... she will be very weak for quite some time."

The entire room felt lighter after hearing the news, even the TARDIS lights were blinking.

The day was finally coming to a close and it seemed to be a happy ending.

"Sarah Jane," Rose called out to the woman who looked tired. "You know, you could always... come with us."

The brunette looked at Rose and smiled. "I believe that... I should stay here. There are still many mysteries in this world and with the Doctor busy all the time, I will have to do. If I have any troubles, I'll be sure to call you."

"Can I come?" Mickey suddenly spoke up. "With the Doctor, I mean."

They all shared and look and smiled. It had been agreed. They lost Sarah Jane Smith, but gained Mickey Smith.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

This chapter is much longer than I remembered it to be when I wrote it... two years ago... probably during a lecture with no exams...

Anyway! I hope you like it! I skimmed it briefly and tried to correct some grammar mistakes.

Thanks again, **kotobukiis**! I really love reading your reviews :D

As per usual, constructive criticism... blah blah blah! Review, thanks!

S.A.K.


	10. The Second Taste

**CHAPTER TEN: THE SECOND TASTE**

Night had long fallen since Anna had been treated in the Medical Bay. The Doctor had left Rose and Mickey to patch up anything that needed patching up. He sat on a chair beside Anna's bed with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose and a book in his hand. Only ten pages into the book he was, for his thoughts always trailed back to the black-haired girl. His eyes would quickly follow and no reading would be done.

The girl had not stirred the entire time, not a peep. There weren't any signs of pain, but the Doctor was worried. This was precisely one of the reasons why he could not allow her to stay with him. She may not age, but she was in invincible. Injuries can still harm her - kill her, even, and the Doctor could not bear the thought of seeing her die. Perhaps it is his own selfishness that has been causing so much emotional pain between the two of them. If he thought rationally, he would come to the conclusion that she would not live forever, with or without him. There would always be danger in this universe. Nowhere was truly safe.

He heard the TARDIS hum in his head. He knew she was trying to comfort him and he also knew she was reprimanding him for thinking too much.

He allowed the book to slip from his fingers as he tugged at his hair.

"Doctor...?" His head snapped down to look at his patient. "Are... you... alright?"

"Ha..." Surprisingly every entity, he let out a burst of laughter. "You're the one who was at the brink of death and you ask if _I_ was alright? Silly girl!"

Anna gave him a weak smile. "I guess you cannot get rid of me so easily, hmm?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he smiled back at her before it slipped off his face. "Anna, before... before you were..."

"It is alright, Doctor," Anna cut him off. "I understand. I will stay as long as you want me, but if you find it necessary to... drop me off, it is fine. I will not be angry." _Terribly upset and dying, but never angry at you, Doctor._

He reached out a hand to stroke her head. His heart warmed when he felt her nuzzle his hand. "Oh, Anna. I am sorry. I am so, so sorry."

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Doctor, I am thirsty," he heard the girl say, felt her tugging at his sleeve. He must've broken a record for being the slowest reader. He had only gotten half way through the book - three hundred pages - since the first night, which was two days, ago! "I just poured you some water and you placed it on the bedside table," he said, trying to go back to his reading.

"Doctor, I am thirsty," she repeated, tugging at his sleeves harder, enough to oscillate his body up and down.

"There's water." He looked up at her to see her grey eyes wide, begging for something. "What is it?" A teasing smile was his answer. "Do you want juice? Is that it? Maybe some tea?" Anna shook her head. "Milk? I'm not sure I have milk." Anna shook her head, again. "Beer?" he asked incredulously, wondering why he was even asking. Anna shook her head. "Alright, don't tell me it's wine and cheese." Anna laughed at him and shook her head. "What else is there to possibly dri-" He froze. "Oh. Oh, no. No. You will not have any of that."

He watched Anna's bottom lip slowly stick out and tremble, eyes becoming impossibly wide. "Coffee?" The Doctor's eye twitched at the squeak of a voice she had produced.

"No. Coffee." He was adamant. There would be no coffee for her. Nope.

"C-Coffee?"

Oh, Rassilon, those eyes. He looked away. "No. No! Nope! No coffee and that's settled. Nothing will change my mind. Nothing will change it, understa-?" It was confirmed that he was an absolute idiot. He had foolishly stared back into those shining grey orbs and felt all his resolves crumble. "Oh, fine! Just a cup! A _small_ cup! A sip!"

Anna grinned widely at him.

He shook his head and left the room to retrieve the addicting drink.

Those grey orbs followed him out the door.

"How much longer?" she whispered to the TARDIS.

In response, a screen popped out from the wall closest to her.

_'So sorry,'_ It read

"Tell me."

_'Seven months.'_

"That is still plenty of time, is it not?" Anna's voice cracked. She didn't want to die. "We can navigate through time and space. One adventure a day and that will give us... two hundred and ten places to go. Plenty of time."

_'Told Doctor.'_

Anna frowned. "You _told_ him?"

There was a pause before the words changed. 'Tell_ Doctor. Tenses so hard.'_

A small smile graced her lips. "I have told you, before. I cannot risk him wasting another regeneration on me."

"A regeneration that would be put to good use if it was for you." Anna started and stared at the Doctor who always had his impeccable timing. "I found some very disturbing things when I was looking over your wounds, Anna. Things that shouldn't be there. Things that I swore I had gotten rid of the last time it was there."

She knew her secret was lost.

"Tell me, Princess Adreanna. What is the time vortex still doing lurking about in your body?"

She shook her head. "I do not know, Doctor. I do not think it ever fully left."

"But how could that be?"

"I do not know," she repeated.

"But how long have you known? How long were you going to keep it from me?!" He saw her flinch against his anger and softened his voice. He placed the cup of coffee down and knelt beside the girl who had burrowed herself under the sheets. "Anna. Anna, look at me. I'm sorry. Look at me. Please. Please, Anna."

She peeked out.

"I'm just... you put my mind in a blender," he started. "Everything that should be easy and logical, isn't when you are concerned. You just... defy them! Makes my head spin like a very fast carousel. I can practically see those horsey things flying around."

The rest of Anna's face popped out. "You are silly, Doctor."

He looked at her laughing face. "Me?"

She nodded. "Coffee?"

The Doctor sighed and helped her sit up before handing her the cup. "This really isn't a good idea."

"I know," she agreed. "But I have been stuck in this bed for three days-"

"Two."

"Two days and I am tired of being tired!"

"And you think coffee will help? You will crash. Crash hard. Then! You'll know what being tired means."

"Crash?" Anna blinked at him. "I guess... I might end up crashing into things.."

He shook his head at her. "System crash, not physically crashing into... something. I really need to start teaching you modern talk. You're going to end up in very awkward situations."

She took a sip. "Like ****?"

He froze. "What?"

"What?! Yes. I mean, no. No, don't say that. Yes, that is something that will get you into big trouble. Where did you learn that from?"

"Mickey."

"What?!" he would have to have a talk with that boy. "When did he even come in?"

"Yesterday, with Rose," she answered, sipping on her coffee. "She laughed at him and ushered him out right after."

He would still have to talk to that boy. "Just... don't ever use that word again, especially not in certain ways."

"Certain ways?" Another sip.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "Just don't use it."

"Why?" Another sip.

"Just don't."

"Why?"

"Stop asking."

"Why?"

He groaned. "This is why I didn't want you to have any coffee."

"Why?" She took a sip.

"Give me that!" He made a grab for the cup, but she scooted away just enough to keep it out of his reach. As a result, he face-planted on to the soft bed.

He felt a finger poke his head, followed by the trill of giggles. The stray digit came again, but he was ready this time. He raised his head and chomped down. Fortunately, judging by the pained yelp, he hadn't missed and bitten himself. Unfortunately, he had forgotten the cup of coffee in the girl's hand, but he didn't forget it for long. The content came drizzling on to his chestnut hair.

The growl that was emitted from his throat only made the girl burst into another fit of giggles. "You look funny, funny stranger."

He gnawed on the finger, glaring playfully. "Never," he grumbled around the finger. "You are _never_ going to have any coffee, again. Not if I can help it."

"Let go," she whined, wiggling the finger.

His brown orbs stared into her grey ones.

He heard loud alarms ringing in his head. Probably from the TARDIS, but everything felt hazy.

"Doctor?' Anna tilted her head.

The Doctor crawled towards her, hair still dripping with coffee. "Have I told you that you have the most beautiful eyes?"

"Wha- mmph!" Her eyes widened in shock before closing as soft lips were placed on top of hers. She felt that horrifyingly delicious feeling infect every part of her mind and body. So hot. Her entire body was so hot.

His teeth nibbled gently on her bottom lip, waiting to explore the crevices of her mouth. It didn't take long for her to grant him entrance. His tongue darted forward and danced to hers.

The coffee continued to drip, leaving thin brown streaks down their faces.

He broke away and licked the coffee away. "Mmm... Tasty..."

The alarms in his head grew louder and vaguely, he could hear a loud echoing 'STOP.'

The Doctor jerked back, gasping. "What's happening to me?"

Anna, not liking the sudden lost of attention, pulled him down to her. It hurt when he fell, but the contact was enough to soothe then pain away. She reconnected their lips, silencing the protests of the man.

He looked into her eyes and noticed the familiar silver mist in her eyes. No. He thought it was over, but here it was, again.

He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "No!"

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Warm. Comfortable. Cozy. Safe. Anna woke up feeling re-energized. She felt as if she was floating in the air with nothing pulling her down. There were no worries to worry about. No monsters to run from, but why did she feel so high?

The answer slowly came to her as the weight on the small of her back shifted. Weight? Why was there weight there? She opened one eye and saw a span of pale skin. That was not usual. She opened the other eye and looked up. The Doctor.

He was still sleeping. She smiled at him - his face so relaxed and peaceful. She placed her head back on to his chest, listening to his two heart beats form a rhythm in her head. Da da da dum. Da da da dum. Da da da dum.

Her eyes snapped back open. But this wasn't right. It _felt_ right, but it wasn't right. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. The Doctor wasn't supposed to be here or maybe she wasn't supposed to be here. Someone wasn't supposed to be here. What happened?

"Doctor...?" she whispered. He tightened his grip on her and groaned, but did not wake. "Doctor?" One brown eye peeked open to look at her before closing again. "Doctor!"

"Wha-?" he slurred, more than half asleep.

"If you would stay awake for more than a third of a second, you would notice something out of place."

"Sleep," he said, not even listening to her. "Comfortable. Sleep."

"Doctor, you are nearly naked," Anna said in exasperation. "I am nearly naked. And we are nearly naked together - in bed.

That got him awake. He jolted up, making Anna squeak as she almost tumbled off the bed. He groaned as he felt his head pound with pain. "Oh... Well, that is not supposed to be happening." All he remembered was somehow stopping himself from stripping all of his clothes off. Instead, his efforts led to him passing out before anything could happen.

"No," she agreed.

"Now, let go of me so that we can be in a more appropriate situation." He let go of the grip of her that he didn't even know was there. A part of him knew that that was the right thing to do, but the other part of him wanted to pull her back and drown himself in the warmth of her body.

He looked away as she scrambled to find her top. The clothing that were scattered on the floor had been torn to shreds, but she managed to find two terrycloth robes in the linen closet - one pink and one blue. She took the pink one for herself and threw the blue one for him. Caught unaware, he fell over when it made contact with his head. "Thanks..." she heard him mumble.

Despite the situation, she allowed herself a giggle and slipped the robe on.

"There has to be something completely logical about this," the Doctor reasoned as he sat back up. "The seal was broken – Rose and Jack destroyed those artefacts. This should not have happened, unless… That seal was only to prevent us from leaving. Why are you scratching yourself?"

Anna hadn't been aware that she was, but stopped the motion when the Doctor mentioned it. "It is itchy."

"Turn around." She complied, but quickly jerked way when she felt him lift the robe up. "Oh, stop it. You still have your pants on."

He ignored her glare. "It is still highly indecent."

"Just let me see, so we can figure out what is going on." Sometimes, he was far too practical for her liking.

With a huff, she allowed the Doctor to uncover her. He saw a patch of angry pink at first, probably from the fervent scratching, but beneath that was a faint pattern. It was fading, but still there. He reached over to get his sonic screwdriver and began to examine the mark. "Hmm… This is… highly unusual." His finger traced the lines that were barely there, feeling the skin tremble. "This is a very, very old symbol - one for lust and love. There hasn't been anything like this for centuries!"

"You think this is what has been causing all the..." She made odd gestures with her hand.

"Yes, all the..." He copied her. "Have you ever been aware of this before?"

Anna tilted her head. "You mean whether I have had this before the... room...? No, I did not have any markings on my body."

"Then this is probably what is causing all this trouble," he concluded.

"Great." She nodded at him. "Now, how do we get rid of it? Cut off the skin?"

"No." He squinted his eyes at the symbol. "It's completely faded away, so it has nothing to do with the actual location. It's inside you. Not sure what we can really do about it. Perhaps if we find the source... the caster who placed it on you, then there might be a way to get rid of it. For now, we'll just have to be very careful and no more coffee."

She shook her head in agreement. "No more coffee."

The Doctor moved away and fell back on to the bed. "There is always so much trouble when it comes to you. All these... weird things that should never happen. It's as if you just absorb things like a sponge. Maybe you're part sponge?" He discarded the thought when she glared at him. "Right, not a sponge. Perhaps part Porifinella?"

"If that is anything similar to a sponge, then no," she answered, getting irritated at his odd questions. "I am part human and part Seraphixian. I was born in France in the year seventeen-seventy to King Louis XV and his Seraphixian mistress, Cassandrianna. I have never left the planet until I met you."

"Not ever?"

"Not ever."

"Interesting..." He tapped the screwdriver on his chin. "Are there any other hybrids like you?

She pondered for a moment. "I do not think so. Seraphixians should be not able to interbreed. Why?"

He shook his head, seemingly to dismiss a thought.

"Yeah... That's what I heard too, but look at you!" he exclaimed. "You're alive. Perhaps the only one of your kind."

She nodded. "Perhaps, but it's possible that since I exist, other hybrids may as well."

"Yes, and that is quite an interesting thought," he said. "It's funny how almost every culture has some form of angels who are good, but in reality, these angels kill without remorse. Life don't mean anything to them, do they?"

"No." She shook her head. "I have heard that they had lived far too long to care about it anymore. They think of themselves as beings that are timeless."

"But they're not, are they?"

"No, I do not reckon that they are."

"Well!" He stood up. "I guess I better go get a shirt and you should too before Rose or Mickey finds us like this."

Anna had a sudden thought - a bad thought; an ugly thought. A thought that made her feel evil. A thought that she should not ask, but the words escaped her lips before she could stop them. "Would it matter if Rose saw us like this? Would you care if it had been Rose with you instead?"

He froze. "What? I- what?"

"Never mind." She turned away and was about to leave, but was pulled back by a hand on her arm.

"Not never mind," he said. "Anna, I would never flaunt something like this, no matter who I am with. I don't want you to feel embarrassed. Not only that, the ape would never let us live it down."

"I know, Doctor," she whispered. "I am just... having a hard time adjusting to all of this. I feel like I never have control over my life and it is getting very frustrating. I could not find my way out of the curse. I could not stop you from regenerating. I could not stop _this_ from happening. The time vortex is inside me and... and I cannot stop feeling for-" She stopped. No, she couldn't say it. Especially not after what they had just done.

"Feeling for what?" The Doctor didn't know if he actually knew what she was going to say. It could be something entirely different from his own assumption. Maybe she had already become a coffee addict and could not stop feeling the need to have more?

"It is nothing." Anna walked away, again, and this time, he didn't stop her.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Double digits! Congratulations for getting so far into the story! This is basically a filler/semi-essential part for my own ongoing plot. I'm not sure what I was thinking two years ago, but I'm out of it and it's a little awkward reading through this part.

Now, I want to thank **TeamTHEFT, GottaLoveTen, **and** beulah2013** for their absolutely wonder reviews!

**beulah2013**: Haha, I really loved reading your review. I try to capture the Doctor as well as I could, but sometimes, he's so difficult to write! And yes, I completely agree. The Doctor is just _so_ human sometimes. And all your questions? It'll be answered, soon! (Hopefully...)

Well, that's it for this week! I'll see you guys again next Wednesday (why did I pick this random day of Wednesday...?). Please review and give me some feedback. I'm writing the second installation, right now, and anything will be very helpful for me to tailor the new chapters to your expectations (with a few surprises hidden!).

S.A.K.


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